The school primarily serves students in western Newport Beach and southern Costa Mesa.

[5] Ground breaking for the first high school in Newport Beach began June 14, 1930, at an original construction cost of $410,000.

[15] In addition to accelerated coursework, NHHS also offers the Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathway: a multiyear sequence of courses that integrates core academic knowledge with technical and occupational knowledge to provide students with a pathway to post-secondary education and careers.

The school colors are primarily blue and gray, and the mascot is Tommy Tar, a representation of Popeye the Sailor Man.

Each year the Sailors football team plays in "The Battle of The Bay" against their cross-town rival, Corona Del Mar High School.

Newport Harbor offers co-curricular activities for course credit, including: band/jazz band, cheer squad, choir, dance, drama, newspaper, surf team, yearbook and ASB.

Beginning in 1935, Principal Sidney Davidson urged senior classes to purchase paintings from local artists as their gift to the school.

In 1937, through the Depression Era Federal Art Project, the school commissioned two mosaics: The Boys by Arthur Ames and The Girls by Jean Goodwin.

[18] Different critics judged the event each year, allowing the collection to "pull together a collection that would have the major Edgar Payne (work) from the 1920s, the Bob Irwin abstract Expressionist canvas from the late 1950s, the fine Frederick Hammersley abstract classicist work in 1963 and the Edie Danieli from the Op era".