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Classes for Saunders began in portables at Westminster S.S. in 1970. Construction of Saunders was completed in 1972. The school cost more than $8 million to build. The location caused many heated debates. The people of Byron, Ontario had been promised, upon amalgamation with the city of London, Ontario, a secondary school in their area so that their children would not have to be bused to the Westmount area. The chosen site for the multi-million dollar school - right in the heart of the Westmount area, across the street from the Westmount Mall - greatly angered the Byron Area Secondary School Association. In spite of this, in January 1969, the London Board of Education approved the Westmount location for the school.
On April 18, 1994, arsonists set fire to Saunders forcing the evacuation and temporary closure of the school, as well as an extensive rebuilding of the rear part of the building. London Police subsequently charged three students with setting the blaze.
Saunders recently underwent an exterior renovation, the first new construction at the school in over three decades. A new entryway was added on the North-East corner of the building along with the fire escape stairs at the South and on the North-West corner of the school, contrasting modern with brutalist architecture.