Battle Ground Academy

Battle Ground Academy was established in 1889. Named due to its original location on the battle ground of the Civil War Battle of Franklin, BGA was founded on the principles of character, scholarship and excellence. The first campus was erected at the corner of Columbia Avenue and Cleburne Street. S.V. Wall and W.D. Mooney were chosen as the first to head the new academy. In 1902, the original school building burned and the school was relocated on a site on Columbia Avenue in Franklin. BGA was established to educate young men, but young women were also allowed to attend. The school operated as a day school though students came from all over the South to attend. They boarded in private homes until the first dormitory was built in 1922, changing BGA to a boarding and day school. After the construction of the first dormitory, the decision was made to go to an all male student body. The departure of the last women in 1929 ushered in a half-century when BGA was a boys' school in the absolute sense. In the early 1970's, the boarding program was phased out, and the school was once again open to women before the decade ended. Thirty-seven enrolled the first year (1979) and the numbers have grown steadily since. At present, young women account for approximately 50 percent of the student body. In 1996, the location of the Battle Ground Academy Upper School changed to its present site on Ernest Rice Lane off Mack Hatcher Parkway. In 2003, the Middle School joined the Upper School in this same location in brand new state-of-the-art facilities. These new facilities afforded the excellence in education and programs to continue. Additionally, in 1998, Battle Ground Academy acquired the former Harpeth Academy, and it became the BGA Lower School on Franklin Road. Currently, the school operates the two campuses and has the three divisions—Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School.