Patterson is designated as the Career Center school for Baltimore's East Side.

The school is a social emotional learning, student wholeness site that offers multiple pathways in Career and Technology Education (CTE); Patterson students take pathway courses during their tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade years, in addition to Maryland State Graduation Requirements, University of Maryland Systems requirements, and a wide variety of elective courses.

In 2012 a Patterson student won first place in the Baltimore City Math Bowl.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan commented, "Baltimore City School system is not doing a great job educating the kids...I was disgusted by it".

[4] In 1993, Patterson, along with all the other Baltimore City public schools, left the Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA) to join the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA).