According to the 1940 Blue Book, the mission of the school was to give "each pupil an opportunity to find a career to which he is best adapted and to establish its basis by diligent study in order to promote his progress in life and to give him confidence in facing the world."

In the past, Bedford, a suburb of Manchester, sent its high school-aged students to West.

In 2005 about 900 high school aged residents of Bedford attended Manchester West.

The three public zoned high schools in Manchester proposed making a co-op hockey team taking from all three schools, but because the combined student population would be higher than that of Pinkerton Academy, the largest high school in the state, the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association (NHIAA) Classification Committee disallowed that move.

West formed a common hockey team with Manchester Central.