McCallie School

Chattanooga’s McCallie School opened September 21, 1905, with eight teachers and 48 students on a family farm located on the western slope of Missionary Ridge donated by Presbyterian minister T. H. McCallie to his sons, James Park and Spencer J. McCallie. Today, educational experts consider McCallie School one of the finest secondary schools in the South. With a campus of more than one hundred acres, an endowment in excess of $40 million, and an enrollment of 750, it has produced some of Tennessee’s and the nation’s top leaders, including cable television mogul Ted Turner, former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker Jr., and former Senator and Ambassador William Brock.

McCallie, an all-boys school, has day and boarding students in grades seven through twelve. It stresses strong academic achievement in the core curriculum and consistently leads the state in the numbers of National Merit Scholarship semifinalists and finalists as well as Advanced Placement Scholars. Committed also to the physical and moral development of its students, McCallie participates in fourteen varsity sports and was the first school in the state to begin organized competition in nontraditional sports such as lacrosse, rowing, and water polo.

Since 1985 McCallie has maintained a formal coordinate program with Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga. Students at the two schools exchange classes and participate in a variety of organized social events.

Citation Information

The following information is provided for citations.

  • Article Title McCallie School
  • Author
  • Website Name Tennessee Encyclopedia
  • URL
  • Access Date March 28, 2024
  • Publisher Tennessee Historical Society
  • Original Published Date
  • Date of Last Update March 1, 2018