Referred to colloquially as USN, the school was founded in 1888 by the Peabody Board of Trustees.

The demonstration school was closed in 1974, several years before Peabody merged with adjacent Vanderbilt University.

[citation needed] Historically, USN has been recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program.

[citation needed][6] Perhaps the largest addition to the school in its history came in 1998, when an 80-acre (32 ha) external campus was purchased for the purpose of housing athletic facilities.

In addition, this site originally had a 15-acre (61,000 m2) sum of wetland, situated on the Cumberland River and Whites Creek.