[1] The area around Roxana began offering education in 1802 with the construction of Gilham's Pasture School on the northeast corner of what is now 13th Street and Edwardsville Road in Wood River, the current site of a Dairy Queen.

The original building had three stories, comprising twelve classrooms, a main office, a library, and a gymnasium.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the district included four elementary schools: Central, Rosewood Heights, Burbank and South Roxana.

After Edison's demolition in the late 1960s, Roxana Public Library was built on the site in 1970.

RHS has grown considerably from its beginnings; the school now contains over twenty-five full classrooms, two gyms, an auditorium, a cafeteria, a weight room, a baseball field, a football field, an All-weather running track, six tennis courts, a full bus garage, three on campus parking lots, and entire buildings dedicated to science, family and consumer sciences, technology, and automotive education.

In 2011 construction finished on the new larger cafeteria, track, and parking lot.

Started in the 2005–2006 school year, RHS's Tri-M chapter celebrates over 30 scholar musicians in its current membership.