South Lakes High School opened in 1978 with grades 7-10.

Students in the first 10th-grade class had attended either Herndon or Oakton High Schools for grade 9.

[2] Langston Hughes Intermediate School was supposed to open in the fall of 1980, but there were construction delays.

[4] South Lakes underwent a $55 million renovation from winter 2006 through August 2008.

[5] A second renovation, completed in the winter of 2018, gave the school a new wing.