It was one of the first new secondary schools in central Auckland in eight years, and was opened when Mount Roskill was a semi-rural but rapidly developing suburb.

[5] In 1957 the school was granted its own board of governors and adopted the emblem of the Phoenix with the motto 'Sursum' meaning 'To the Heights'.

The Centre moved into a new building in 2003 and the staff and students are fully involved in all areas of school life.

[7] The school has had several structural improvements, such as the construction of new buildings such as the Science Block, the Maclean Centre, T-Block, renovation of H-Block (including the Year 13 Common Room - a room with lockers, kitchen appliances, and recreation features dedicated to final year students), and the new gymnasium and classrooms.

[12] Mount Roskill Grammar School offers sports, music and other extracurricular activities.

As of 2017, Mount Roskill Grammar School has 5 houses that have been named after famous New Zealanders - Rutherford (Red), Ngata (Orange), Sheppard (Yellow), Hillary (Green) And Cooper (Blue).

It was met with opposition by the student body but Greg Watson, the principal, pleaded ignorance to the issue and has stated that he had received positive support regarding it.

[citation needed] On 16 March 2011, Campbell Live, a TV3 current affairs programme aired an interview on bullying at Mount Roskill Grammar[25] where a member of the study body had been bullied to a point that she spent "12 lessons in the Dean's office or the administration area across a 7-day period".