St. Paul Christian Academy was founded in 1971 by St. Paul Southern Methodist Church (now St. Paul Community Church) and chartered as its own, independent, not-for-profit corporation.

St. Paul opened in September of 1971 with 118 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. A seventh grade was added in 1972, an eighth grade in 1973, and a ninth grade in 1975. The Academy then focused its efforts on kindergarten through sixth grade and phased out the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades by 1981. The fall of 1989 was the beginning of our junior kindergarten program. St. Paul was accredited by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS) in 1996, reaccredited by SACS in 2002, and reaccredited by SACS and the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) in 2007.  The Academy scheduled for reaccreditation in 2012.

Previous Heads of School; David Paulk, 1971-1980; Leonard Garriott, 1980-1983; Paul Hood, 1983-1986; Thomas Hamilton, 1986-1989; Lynn Husband, 1989-1993; and Martha Harris, 1993-2000. In June of 2000, Kenneth C. Cheeseman became the seventh Head of School. Prior to this role, he was the Academic Dean at Brentwood Academy in Brentwood, Tennessee.