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.[citation needed] Brentwood Academy was among a wave of private schools formed in response the court ordered desegregation of public schools.

[5][6] Applications to Brentwood Academy increased in 1980 after court rulings expanded desegregation busing in Nashville.

[8] In 2001, Brentwood Academy was a party in the United States Supreme Court case Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association.

[9] 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.