For the 1963-64 school year, Jefferson Intermediate was opened to handle children from the Post-World War II baby boom.
Herbert Henry Dow High School opened to sophomores in 1968, and added one grade each year until the first class graduated in 1971.
As Michigan's economy worsened in 2009, the school board debated alternatives to reduce expenses in preparation for a $3–6 million reduction in state funding.
Enrollment had been declining for several years to a point where the district's 12 elementary schools were below two-thirds capacity and several needed to be closed.
[7] The demographic breakdown of the 7,436 students enrolled in 2022-23 was:[8] The school district has its own community cable and IPTV Public-access television channel known as MPS-TV, which broadcasts on the Charter Communications cable network in the Midland area, and AT&T U-Verse TV network in the Tri-Cities region.
[9] Dow High School has a field with limited seating and no lighting that is used primarily for daytime junior varsity contests.