[1] It was built and opened in 1926 (Monahan & Meikle, architects[5]) along the east bank of the Blackstone River as a "state of the art" educational facility.

[1][2] The building originally consisted of four floors and a basement, 60 class rooms, a 1,300-seat auditorium, a swimming pool, and a nursery for the children of teenage mothers.

In the days of the old rivalry on Thanksgiving Eve, Tolman students would participate in the annual Burning of the Casket ceremony on the Blackstone River.

[6][11] Local officials said that many students from low-income families move between urban districts frequently and some travel back to their home country often adding to the dropout count twice.

[13] A proposal for a requirement for all students to wear photo identification during regular school hours was another major policy brought forth shortly after the event.

Weeks after the shooting, the suspect was arrested at a Dunkin' Donuts in Johnston, Rhode Island, after a detective learned he was in the store preparing to flee the state.

[17] In legal papers, the student said that the assault "took place as a result of the city's failure to provide adequate supervision and security" in the public schools and demanded $100,000, the statutory limit for damages in a municipal liability case.

[21] In the spring of 2007, a suspicious looking object resembling a pipe bomb caused the evacuation of Tolman High School.

The state's fire marshal's bomb squad was called in after a teacher spotted the object in a second floor locker.