Amelia Academy was founded in 1964 during Virginia's policy of massive resistance to court-mandated integration of public schools.

[4] Like many such schools, Amelia Academy had its tax-exempt status suspended by the Internal Revenue Service in the early 1970s due to its racially discriminatory admission policies.

[6] However, in February 1986 the Internal Revenue Service announced that it was opening an investigation to determine whether the Amelia Academy and two other Virginia private schools had, in fact, abandoned racial discrimination in admissions.

[9] At the time, headmistress Lewis told The Washington Post that the Academy "has always had an open-door policy,"[9] and that anyone who met admissions standards was welcome to attend.

The boys’ basketball squad won the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) Championship, as well as the VCC regular season and conference tournament three times between 2011 and 2013.