NYGH was founded in 1917 as the Singapore Nanyang Girls' School by Tan Chor Lam and Teo Eng Hock.
The Japanese military took control of the school premises during the Battle of Singapore in 1942 and caused great damage to its facilities.
In 1979, NYGH was designated as a Special Assistance Plan school, in which English and Chinese were offered as first-language subjects.
In 2005, the school began the six-year Integrated Programme in partnership with Hwa Chong Institution to enable academically able students to skip the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level examinations and proceed to take the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level examinations at the end of Year 6.
In 2012, Nanyang Girls' High School initiated the formation of the Strategic Alliance of Global Educators (SAGE) with nine other schools from Singapore, the United States, Australia, China and the United Kingdom, and organised the inaugural SAGE conference for educators from all parts of the world in August 2012.
In 1968, the diamond-shaped motif was superimposed on top of a yellow ring emblem with the words "Nanyang Girls' High" printed on it.
The school motto Qín Shèn Duān Pŭ (勤·慎·端·朴) means "Diligence, Prudence, Respectability and Simplicity".
Nanyang Girls' Boarding School[7] provides activities such as formal dinners, enrichment, performances and sports.
The school is able to house a maximum of 500 boarders in 190 rooms comprising 2-4 bedded units, air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned.
[citation needed] NYGH's Uniformed Groups CCAs, namely Girl Guides, National Police Cadet Corps and St. John Ambulance Brigade are also available.
Also, they have emerged as Champions in Hwa Chong Debate Invitationals and done reasonably well at the recent NUS Challenge Shield 2009.
They hold annual caiqings during the Chinese New Year where they go around Singapore performing, and also take part in lion dance competitions.
A group of five 17-year-old students topped the secondary school category of the National Science Experiment Big Data Challenge 2017.