In 1975, two female students were expelled from Mena High School after spiking the punch at a party with two bottles of beer.

Feeling the punishment was excessive, the students took legal action, and the case was eventually heard by the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled that school boards have a responsibility to assure that the constitutional rights of students are upheld.

[3] The assumed course of study for students is to complete the Smart Core curriculum developed by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE), which requires students complete at least 22 units for graduation.

The high school conducts on and off campus performances including at Mena's Ouachita Little Theatre.

For the 2012–14 seasons, the Mena Bearcats participate in the 4A Classification within the 4A Region 4 Conference as sanctioned by the Arkansas Activities Association with student-athletes competing in football, volleyball, baseball, basketball (boys/girls), cross country (boys/girls), golf (boys/girls), soccer (boys/girls), softball, tennis (boys/girls), track and field (boys/girls).