Located in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş District on Çırağan Avenue, parcel 8 of block 575, section 65, Kabataş Boys’ High School was founded in 1908 under the name Kabataş Mekteb-i İdâdîsi in the Esma Sultan Mansion in the Kabataş neighborhood, under the leadership of principal Hasan Tahsin (Aynî) Bey. The school began instruction in 1909 with 7 grades and 276 students.

In 1913, it was transformed into a Sultânî (Imperial High School) with 12 grades, the first 5 forming the lower division, and was renamed Kabataş Mekteb-i Sultânîsi. In 1919, a boarding division was added. With the abolition of all sultânîs following the proclamation of the Republic, the school was renamed Kabataş Erkek Lisesi (Kabataş Boys’ High School) in the 1923–1924 academic year, and its lower division was removed in the 1925–1926 academic year.

In 1928–1929, the school relocated to a building formerly part of the Feriye Palaces, which were originally constructed as summer residences for members of the Ottoman royal family. It continues to operate in the same building today.

In 1934, the old building located by the road within the school garden known as the Ağalar Dairesi was renovated to include a conference hall and science laboratories and was reopened as the “Kültür Binası” (Cultural Building). Due to growing student enrollment, the middle school division was closed in the 1941–1942 academic year, and the building previously used as Beşiktaş Middle School within the Feriye Palace complex was added to Kabataş as a boarding facility.

In the 1979–1980 academic year, 42 female students were enrolled, but they were transferred to Beşiktaş Girls’ High School after one year. In 1987, the “Kabataş Erkek Lisesi Eğitim Vakfı” (Kabataş Boys’ High School Educational Foundation) was established. In the 1992–1993 academic year, the school transitioned to a co-educational system and introduced the “Foreign Language-Focused – Super High School” program with the addition of an English preparatory class.

From the 1994–1995 academic year onward, female students were also granted access to the school’s boarding program. In 1989, a neighboring structure previously used as a coal depot and later as a storage building known as the Feriye Police Station and Gendarmerie Quarters was incorporated into the school grounds through efforts of the school’s foundation. 
After restoration, it began serving as an “Education and Culture Center” in 1995.

Since the 1998–1999 academic year, Kabataş Boys’ High School has held the status of an “Anatolian High School.” Today, the school serves approximately 700 students, nearly 250 of whom are boarders.