The area on the west bench grew rapidly in the early 1950's, and elementary schools were constructed to handle the growth. As the size of classes passing through the system grew, and neighboring South Junior High became overcrowded, the need for a new junior high became critical.

The original West Junior High, at the corner of Curtis Road and Emerald Street, was built in 1952-53 with Federal funds from Public Law 815. These funds were provided to districts that were impacted with students from people who worked in Federal entities; Boise, as the state's capital, had many federal employees and received some of this assistance.

Even though West was located on Curtis Road, students came from west and south of the school before Fairmont Junior High was built in 1964. West had several additions over the years. In 1959, five classrooms and a locker room were added. About ten years later in 1968, three more classrooms and a cafeteria were built onto the school. The year 1972 saw the addition of an arts and crafts building. The growth of new programs and a need for office space saw the construction in 1976 of a counselor's office and more locker rooms.

In the 1990’s, West received new paint on the entire building. The green paint over black trim, with windows and doors in white, gave the school a beautiful new look.

In the fall of 2008 West moved from the location at Curtis and Emerald to a new building behind the District administration offices off of Victory Road.