Shanghai Yan'an Senior School was set up in October 1964. It was appraised as the keystone school of Shanghai. The paramount leader and the CPC Committee Secretary of China, Deng Xiaoping inscribed the name of the school in 1979. Then the famous senior school was moved to a new address in 1998 and it became the first campus school in Shanghai.

Shanghai Yan'an Senior School is located in Changning District which is next to Hongqiao Development Area. The school's area is more than 100,000 sq. m. It is the most popular boarding school with advanced facilities in Shanghai.

Shanghai Yan'an Senior School puts much attention on decreasing stress of students' studying. Teachers developed their learning skills in different ways in accordance with different students' abilities. The students in the senior school have attained striking academic results in recent years. Shanghai Yan'an Senior School has been praised by the municipal government as a civilized educational unit, laborers' model and excellent environmental friendly school, as well as awarded by United Nations' Environmental Protection Department for experiments in environmental protection.