The history of Vienna Adventist Academy begins in the fall of 1920 when the Vienna Seventh-day Adventist Church was formed with eighteen charter members. Because this small group believed so strongly in providing a Christian education for its young people, a church school was begun immediately.

The first school year began with eleven students in a tent. Amelia Lawrence Hess was the teacher. Land was purchased on the corner of Maple Avenue and Lawyers Road and a building was soon erected. In 1928, the church board voted to enlarge the school to two rooms.

As the years went by, enrollment grew. In 1950, two rooms were added to the church's recreational building to accommodate the school's growing enrollment. The church and school experienced further growth and in 1955 the church purchased an 8-acre plot on Courthouse Road. The congregation again showed its commitment to its children by beginning construction first on the school.

In 1956 grades nine and ten were added to the school. Connie Davis Dalton and Gary W. Langston, MD were the first tenth graders. In the fall of 1960, the new facility on Courthouse Road was completed and Vienna Junior Academy (VJA) moved in. The Vienna SDA Church held services in the school until 1971.

By 1982 enrollment at VJA had reached 66 students with a faculty of four full-time and four part-time teachers. The 1990s was a decade of real growth for the school. In the mid-1990's grades 11 and 12 were added to the school in partnership with Home Study International (HSI). By the 1998/1999 school year total K-12 enrollment passed the 140 mark. During the 2000/01 school year we participated with HSI in a pilot program in which several classes were taught over the Internet.

The high school and home-school program was scaled back in the early 2000s to better focus on building excellence within the elementary and middle school grades. Rising test scores and the eligibility of several students — some of whom have attended VAA since Kindergarten — to attend Johns Hopkins programs for the academically gifted, demonstrate that the current focus on higher standards and on excellence is working!  In the 2007-2008 school year a Pre-K / 4-year old class was added.