South High School is located in the south Denver neighborhood adjacent to Washington Park, where it enjoys the strong support of its community, parents, and alumni. South's internationally diverse student population has the unique opportunity to gain an understanding of many cultures; its groundbreaking and innovative programs allow students to engage in a broad range of studies.

Every South student has the opportunity to be prepared to successfully enter a post-secondary education program or career by engaging in a rigorous course load of accelerated and honors classes. Twelve Advanced Placement courses are offered in four core academic areas, world languages, art, music, and economics.

In 2007, South was named a member of the second national cohort of College Board EXCELerator high schools. Through the EXCELerator program all ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade students are afforded the opportunity to take the PSAT exam in October of each year at no charge.

South's comprehensive academic, elective, and extracurricular programs produce well-rounded students. Elective programs are offered in visual arts, music, dance, drama, business, physical education, JROTC, world languages, and technology. A full range of clubs and competitive sports teams are available to students during the fall, winter, and spring seasons.

The following South programs have received state and national recognition

• Competitive Speech
• JROTC
• Newspaper
• Dance
• Math
• Chess Club
• Mathematics Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA)
• Visual Arts
• Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
• Drama
• Music
• and Slam Poetry

An after-school tutorial program is available in the four core academic areas. Academic Fitness offers struggling students academic support. In addition, prep sessions are offered twice a week to help students prepare for the ACT/SAT tests. Special Education students are served through two Multi-Intensive Program classrooms and a full inclusion mild/moderate program.