The school received its charter in February 1998 and opened in September for the 1998–1999 academic year with 162 freshman, 15 faculty and staff, a newly renovated facility, and a $1.2 million budget.

A temporary location for the Sturgis West campus was used for the 2011–12 school year at the former Artifacts Furniture building at 434 Main Street in Hyannis.

[3] The original campus at 427 Main Street has been designated Sturgis East by the administration.

The Sturgis Board of Trustees governs the school, and the executive director oversees the educational program.

The magazine's ranking was based exclusively on the number of AP and IB tests taken divided by the number of graduating seniors but is currently based on "six components: graduation rate (25%), college matriculation rate (25%), AP tests taken per graduate (25%), average SAT/ACT scores (10%), average AP/IB/AICE scores (10%), and AP courses offered (5%)".

Sturgis is one of thirteen schools in Massachusetts that offer the IB Diploma Program.

Diploma candidates also complete a thesis known as the extended essay, a course in philosophy called Theory of Knowledge, as well as participate in CAS (creativity, action, and service) activities.

Diploma can assist in making a student eligible to apply directly, especially when the host country's secondary educational system has more stringent requirements than the United States.

Normally, American students are required to first complete an associate degree, or alternatively enroll in a Sixth Form College in the UK (and write the required A Level exams for their programme) prior to attending a British University, however the completion of the I.B.

A joint Track and Field program was also established between Sturgis East and West back in 2015.