The school spans 35 acres (0.14 km2) of rolling hillsides between Merritt Drive to the south, Via Cabrillo Street to the north, and Harvester Road to the east.

[8] In 2007, MHS made the U.S. News & World Report list of the top 100 schools in the United States, ranking #98.

With the rise of social media, the school was featured in a 2007 CBS News story about students posting videos of teachers on YouTube.

[16] Upon recommendation of Hugh Kaufman, a senior EPA policy analyst, teachers approached Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) for help.

[16] The District hired an environmental firm named Environ, whose initial clean up plan was criticized for allowing elevated PCB levels to remain inside classrooms for 15 years or more, for not testing caulk in all rooms built prior to 1979 and for air quality monitoring of only one year.

[20] In 2007, U.S. News & World Report ranked Malibu High #98 of the top 100 schools in the country and awarded a gold medal.

Besides regular college-preparatory, honors, and Advanced Placement courses, the school is one of a handful in California that provides extensive resources for Special Education (SpEd) students.

The Inkblot, a literary magazine, was added in 2008, showcasing student stories, poetry, cartoons, and illustrations;[25] it was relaunched in 2016 as The Undertow.

Taking advantage of the school's proximity to the Pacific Ocean, the program had students collect oceanographic and biological data as well as plankton samples every week during the academic year.

The school is a charter member of the Citrus Coast League, a conference within the CIF Southern Section that was established in 2018.

[26] A study published in 2007 by the MHS Site Governance Council reported that 75% of all honors and AP enrolled students participate in the school's sports programs.