The district encompasses approximately 59 square miles (150 km2) and is the largest in Allegheny County in terms of geographical area.

Throughout this time span, the team has sent several players on to play at NCAA Division I schools and the National Football League.

He was also a member of the USA Today All-America Team (Second-team) and three-time Pittsburgh Post-Gazette WPIAL Class AAA Player of the Year.

Palko led his West Allegheny Indians to a PIAA state title in 2001 for AAA in Pennsylvania and has since played for the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and numerous professional teams.

When the WPIAL and PIAA switched to a six-classification system beginning with the 2016–17 academic year, the football team was placed in class 5A, the second-largest of the six new classifications.