McCallie School is a private, all-boys, college-preparatory school located on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1905, the school has students in grades 6 through 12 in both day and boarding programs.
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History
Brothers Spencer Jarnigan and James "Park" McCallie founded the school in 1905, which remained under the control of the family until a board of trustees assumed management of the school in 1937.
Founded as an all-boys school, McCallie became a military school in the wake of World War I. In 1970, McCallie dropped its military program as a result of admission challenges during the Vietnam War.
Like most schools in Tennessee, the McCallie School was formerly racially segregated. While the school's board of trustees agreed to allow the admission of African-American students beginning with day students in 1969 and boarding students in 1970, the school did not admit its first African-American student until 1971.
McCallie has a close relationship with Girls Preparatory School (GPS). One of the co-founders of GPS was Grace McCallie, sister to Spencer and Park.
Drama collection
Donated to the theater department, the Scott Langley '68 Drama Collection is a collection of plays and theater history books, located in the rehearsal room. Langley graduated as valedictorian from McCallie in 1968. He was involved in theater and swimming during his time at McCallie.
Rankings
In 2016, McCallie was ranked as the top private high school in the state of Tennessee by Business Insider. In Niche's 2023 high school report, McCallie was ranked the number one boarding high school and best high school for athletes in Tennessee. Nationally, McCallie was ranked the 35th best overall all-boys high school and 123rd of 418 best boarding high schools.
Summer programs
McCallie School has seven boarding camps.
Notable alumni
Eric Rivers '2021: wide receiver for the FIU Panthers
Sean Ryan '2010: Olympic swimmer
Michael Bingham '04: Olympic medalist in track and field
Evan Power '00: chairman of the Republican Party of Florida and member of the Republican National Committee
Jon Meacham '87: writer, former editor of Newsweek, contributing editor at Time
Giovanni Alberto Agnelli '82: CEO of Fiat Group
Zach Wamp '76: former member of the United States House of Representatives of Tennessee
Marshall Fletcher McCallie '63: United States ambassador to Namibia
Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. '58: former governor of South Carolina
Ted Turner '56: founder of CNN and Turner Broadcasting System, former owner of Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, and Atlanta Thrashers
Bill Brock '49: former United States senator and Secretary of Labor
Preston Henn '49: founder of the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop and race car driver
Pat Robertson '46: televangelist and founder and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network
Howard Baker Jr. '43: former Senate Majority Leader, White House Chief of Staff, and Ambassador to Japan