The charter of Brentwood Academy was signed on November 20, 1969, after ten acres of land on Granny White Pike was gifted by Tom P. Kennedy, Jr. Brentwood Academy was among a
wave of private schools formed in response the court ordered
desegregation of public schools. Brentwood Academy's leaders claimed the school was established to provide a sound, Christian education in a safer environment, but the
sociologist Jennifer Dyer has argued that the school's stated objectives were simply a "guise" for the school's actual objective of allowing white parents to avoid enrolling their children in racially integrated public schools. Despite the school's claim that it was not founded for the purpose of racial segregation, it did not enroll any Black students until 1974, and did not have a Black graduate until 1980. Applications to Brentwood Academy increased in 1980 after court rulings expanded
desegregation busing in Nashville. At the time, only four of Brentwood Academy's 360 students were black. In 2001, Brentwood Academy was a party in the
United States Supreme Court case
Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. The academy had sued the
Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association after the school was penalized for "undue influence" in recruiting football players, and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court. The court in this case held that a statewide association, incorporated to regulate interscholastic athletic competition among public and private schools, is regarded as engaging in
state action when it enforces a rule against a member school. In 2017, Brentwood Academy was accused of telling their staff not to report child abuse, including the rape of a 12-year-old child. The charges were later dismissed. ==Notable alumni==