Established in 1962, the school caters for approximately 820 students from Years 7 to 10.

The school is administered by the Tasmanian Department for Education, Children and Young People.

The school's motto is Latin: Quod verum meum est, translated as "All that is true is mine".

The Scott-Kilvert Hut in Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park, Tasmania is a memorial hut dedicated to the lives of Ewen Scott and David Kilvert, a teacher and student from Riverside High School, who died due to a blizzard whilst bushwalking in 1965.

[6] In 2019 Riverside High received an extensive $12 million dollar redevelopment[7] which was officially opened in November 2020 by Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Education and Training, and Tim Bullard, Secretary of Education.