The founding of the school was a result of a consent decree ruling in 1984 between the City of San Francisco and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

[2] First established in the Silver Terrace neighborhood, the current campus is located in Visitacion Valley at 400 Mansell Avenue, on the former site of Woodrow Wilson High School.

[3] Phillip & Sala Burton Academic High School was established in 1984 under the court's guidance as a consent decree between the NAACP and the City and County of San Francisco.

Public radio station KALW bases its studios on the Burton campus.

[4] The school opened its student wellness center in 2005, the seventh in the district.