The editorial board meets daily in The Spectator journalism class and is headed by the two Editors in Chief (EICs).

[3] The Spectator is a not-for-profit and is financially independent from the school, but remains a prime news source for students, teachers, and administrators.

As the "crown jewel" of Stuyvesant High School publications, it was launched on February 25, 1915 under Editor Joseph E. Kasper ’15.

In 1960, a Daily Mirror article charged that the principal censored several Spectator stories and revoked graduation awards for editors.

In April 1998, Editor-in-Chief Micah Lasher published a wraparound spoof edition of The Spectator called "The Defectator," which poked fun at faculty members and the college advisor.

On April 9, the day before spring break, the assistant principal of technology changed the locks and all the computer passwords in the paper's windowless office.

Principal Jinx Cozzi Perullo shut down The Spectator after mounting tensions between faculty, administration, and students.

The day after the April Fools' issue, leaders of the teachers’ union complained about being bashed by the newspaper in a meeting with Principal Perullo.

[5] Perullo believed in students’ rights to write about things that involve their lives, including teachers, but wanted The Spectator to have a written set of guidelines.

In addition, "student journalists, in concert with a faculty adviser, will make the final content decisions for The Spectator.

"[6] In April 1999, Jack Rosenthal, president of the New York Times Foundation, met with Principal Stanley Teitel and the editors of The Spectator at Stuyvesant High School.

[11] On October 2, 2001, The Spectator, under Editor-in-Chief Jeff Orlowski and Faculty Advisor Holly Ojalvo, created a special 24-page full-color 9/11 insert containing student photos, reflections and stories.