Besides providing the standard state-mandated high school curriculum, the school also has an engineering academy, which gives advanced training to students interested in engineering careers.

Between 2015 and 2024 Julius L. Chambers High School's graduation rate fell 15.1 percentage points to 73% while the State-wide rate increased 1.4 percentage points.

The school was originally named after Zebulon Baird Vance, a Confederate military officer in the American Civil War, slave owner, twice Governor of North Carolina, and U.S.

In June 2020, as a result of the George Floyd protests, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board officially stated that they had started the process to rename the school to remove the association with the Confederacy.

[3][4] In October 2020, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School board decided to name the school after Julius L. Chambers, who was a famous lawyer, civil rights leader, and educator from North Carolina.