The name "Phoenix High School" was carefully selected with a distinct purpose. 

The mythical Phoenix bird came from Egyptian and later Greek origins.  The bird was about the size of an eagle and was noted for its colorful beauty.  The life cycle was about 500 years old and a new life cycle began as a young bird rose from the fire and ashes of its parent.  The dramatic rebirth from its ashes had made it a symbol for immortality or reborn idealism or hope.  It is an emblem of a person restored after suffering calamity.

Phoenix High School is a community day school, as designated by the State of California, providing an alternative high school educational program for students of the Antelope Valley Union High School District. It is a school for problem and at risk youth. Students are assigned to the school for mandatory and discretionary board ordered expulsion from six comprehensive and one continuation high schools of the Antelope Valley Union High School District. Some students are assigned due to meetings with Los Angeles County Youth Probation and/ or the School Attendance Review Board. Under school board policy, students convicted of a felony are also assigned to the school.

The school was originally established on the site of Mira Loma State Prison, operated by the Los Angeles County Office of Education, Juvenile Court and Community Schools. The Antelope Valley Union High School district took over the operation of the school in 1996, as it was called the Antelope Valley Community School. The site moved from Mira Loma to a leased county fire station on Avenue M in Palmdale and as the number of students grew, a second site was leased and opened at the Antelope Valley fairgrounds. Known widely as the district community school, the name Phoenix High School was suggested and formally adopted by the board of trustees. The school currently serves about 110 students with a maximum potential of serving 125 students at each campus site.