The school's goal is to prepare students for college/vocational training utilizing technology through problem solving, project-based learning, and interdisciplinary education.

[2] The concept of a magnet high school for Union County was first proposed by Superintendent Thomas Bistocchi in December 1995.

[4] After originally rejecting the proposal in August 1996, the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders approved $5.1 million in funding for the school in February 1997.

[14] In 2008, Magnet High School, along with the Academy for Allied Health Sciences, was named #1 youth per capita in the entire nation by the American Cancer Society for their Relay for Life.

The school holds dances about once a month and annually, Magnet hosts a talent show and the Coffee House, which is put together by the drama club.

Although disbanded in 2006 due to loss of the founding members, the 1257 robotics team was reformed in the 2008–09 school year and is going strong once again.

The club was started by two students, and its main objective is to schedule, plan, and organize the annual Relay For Life held at the school.

UCMHS opened in 1997 and since then the building has seen minor renovations and the addition of a glass atrium to the fitness center.

Following the major renovations in the mid-1990s, the building was named Mancuso Hall after the Chairman of the Union County Board of Education at the time.

The plans included a bridge linking the building with the addition, which will be located in one of the last free patches of ground on campus, over a frequently used path leading from a parking lot to the front door of the Magnet High School.

Scotch Plains petitioned the New Jersey Department of Education to force the exclusion of students from their district from the Magnet School.

They argued that their program was comparable to UCMHS and they should not, therefore, be required to pay tuition for students attending the county school.

The UCMHS argued that the programs were not comparable, as evidenced by Linden students desiring to leave their home district in favor of Magnet.

Recently, as a result of extensive state budget cuts, the Board of Education of the Springfield Public Schools announced its plan in 2010 to refuse to pay tuition for students attending several of the schools on the UCVTS campus, on the grounds that it has comparable programs in engineering, performing arts, and health-care training.