The high school provides secondary education for students in grades 7 through 12 for more than 147.81 square miles (382.8 km2) of land that includes all or portions of Cleburne County and Van Buren County communities including: Higden, Bee Branch, Quitman, Heber Springs, Prim, Edgemont, Shirley, Fairfield Bay, Greers Ferry, and Drasco.

In 1973, the girls' basketball program was started by coach Eddy Hipp who remained with the school until retirement in 2004 leading the Lady Eagles to a 735–287 record during that time.

[2] West Side High School is accredited by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) and the assumed course of study follows the Smart Core curriculum developed by the ADE, which requires students complete at least 22 units prior to graduation.

[1] West Side is one of twenty high schools to be recognized with the 2012 College Readiness Award by the Arkansas ACT Council in recognition of improving the participation rate of students taking the ACT college readiness exam.

The Eagles participate in golf (boys/girls), cross country (boys/girls), basketball (boys/girls), baseball, fastpitch softball, tennis (boys/girls) and cheer.