The Upper School's student-run newspaper, The Coat of Arms, has won awards, including Top Honors – First Place with Special Merit from the American Scholastic Press Association.

In March of 2023, a special edition covering sexual assault and harassment[5] contained a collection of articles about those topics, including survivor stories from students at Menlo's Upper School, as well as statistical information from a survey the school conducted about the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment in student's lives.

[7] The team won the California State Championship in 2014, defeating the three-time defending champion La Reina High School of Ventura County.

Outside California, the team won the Providence Cup, a pre-season national mock trial tournament held in Denver, Colorado, in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Team members Andy Parker and Tiffany Tam won the Gladiator Individual World Championships in 2016[10] and 2018, respectively.

[7][11] With Stanford Mock Trial, Menlo also hosts the annual NorCal Mock Trial Invitational, the first tournament in California outside the normal CRF competition to be scored; as of April 2022[update] they have won the tournament in 7 of the past 11 years.

Artistic groups include the Knight and Mid-Knight Dancers, who produce an annual dance show, a chamber orchestra, and three choruses.

Other notable groups include the national semifinalist cyber security team captained by student-visionary Max Talwar.

In the 2017–2018 school year, it replaced Knight School, which was a one-week period that offered experiences such as volunteer trips to work with Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans, cooking classes, and video game design seminars instead of conventional classes.

Sophomores delve into social issues such as equity and justice, participating in discussions and activities that explore these topics in depth.

[14] In 2022, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the complications it caused for global travel, the traditional Menlo Abroad program was temporarily suspended.

In its place, the school introduced The Borderlands program, which focused on trips to Arizona and Texas to educate students about the Navajo Nation, issues of sustainability, and the complexities of the US–Mexico border.

Menlo's athletic center contains two basketball courts, one full-sized, with drop-down volleyball nets.

The Creative Arts and Design Center contains spaces for artists in the upper school, and has band and dance rooms.

Structural steel and concrete shear walls were used in the new classroom and adjacent new library to help bolster up the hall.

[18] Menlo also has peer leadership and advocacy programs where students advocate within their group for all four years of high school.

[22] In a speech delivered on May 4, 2023, Head of School Than Healy revealed a shift in the demographics of Menlo students.

[26] The Valparaiso (Valpo) Bowl is an annual football game between Menlo School and the neighboring Sacred Heart that raises money for a local educational charity.