The Triad District was formed by consolidation in 1954. The District consists of the communities of Troy, St. Jacob, and Marine, which are all located in Madison County. The District has a total of 121.5 square miles. Triad is located in Madison County which is in the southwestern sector of Illinois - just 18 miles northeast of St. Louis. The biggest part of the District sits at the crossroads of Interstates 55, 70, and 270. When the district was formed, a contest was held for naming the district. A student by the name of Vincent Kauhl, who was a student at the McCray-Dewey High School in Troy, was the winner with his entry of "TRIAD" for the district name.

When the District was formed, there were a total of 869 students in the three communities which included 222 high school students (grades 9 through 12) and 647 elementary students (grades 1 through 8). There was one grade school in each of the communities and high school buildings in Troy and St. Jacob.

Presently there are 3,995 students attending school in the Triad District from grades pre-kindergarten through grade 12 (1,94 elementary students, 896 middle school students, and 1,195 high school students.) There are two elementary schools in Troy (Henning and Silver Creek); one elementary school in St. Jacob; one elementary school in Marine, along with a district middle school housing grades 6-8 and a district high school.