It earned its school nickname due to its location within the Hawk's Prairie area of Thurston County off Exit 111 of Interstate 5, serving students living in Mushroom Corner and Tanglewilde-Thompson Place.

[4][6] Other buildings served to house electives, athletics, library media center, and main administrative offices.

There is also another complex near D house called Sommer hall; it currently has STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) classes.

A common criticism in the school's architectural layout is the use of breezeway to connect the seven buildings, which provides little protection from the Pacific Northwest weather.

In addition, like most American high schools, many students choose to participate in Advanced Placement (AP) classes, allowing them to earn college credit in Calculus, Physics, Government, and World History among others.

Every year River Ridge has a formal graduation ceremony held at the St Martin's Pavilion in Lacey, WA.

[10] The River Ridge Hawks compete as a 3A-division member of the South Sound Conference in District 3 as organized by the WIAA.