The McCallie School is a boys college-preparatory school located on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. The school was founded in 1905 and now has 322 boarding students in grades 9–12 and 657 day students in grades 6–12.

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, with students wearing uniforms and participating in military drills.

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. McCallie has maintained a formal coordinate program with Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga since 1985. Students at the two schools participate in a variety of organized social events and coordinate some academic programming, particularly in music and theater.

History of Boarding 
 McCallie has always been a boarding school, with the first dorm being Founders with 8 initial students. But in 1907 after a record enrollment of 110 students and a fire that destroyed the frame of Founders, the school required an additional dormitory. That Summer, our founders borrowed $6,000 and added a $5,000 loan from an unnamed benefactor to construct two-story Douglas Hall on Kyle Street. Named after the family of Reverend McCallie's wife, it accommodated 35 boys and also served as the headmaster's office and Park's residence. Later in the early 1950's the school constructed North and South Hutch, along with Maclellan Hall (originally a Freshman dorm before being used as a bookstore and post office.) Later in 1962, Belk Hall was dedicated as the Senior dorm, and at the same time Founder's home was being renovated to allow for more housing, giving the building its iconic pillars. And finally when work on Belk and Founders was completed, the school tore down Douglas Hall, and constructed Caldwell Hall on its site. Later to address the growing boarder population, Pressly Hall was dedicated in 2007, and Burns Hall was dedicated in 2010. And now the boarding population makes up half of the school community, with it continuing to grow each year, and it cementing its place as a critical part of our school's culture.

History of Theater at McCallie 
History of the McCallie Theater Department 

 Mar 4, 1907. The McCallie Dramatic Club was organized following the presentation of their first play "Between the Acts."
 Fall of 1923. In the Fall portion of the Dramatics Club, which was composed of the younger boys in the school, a two-act play was presented, “Up Caesar’s Creek”. This play was presented for the training it would give to the boys, and was presented without charge at Pine Breeze, Benny Oakes, and before the parent-teacher association of the Missionary Ridge School. 
 Spring of 1923. As a final play for the school year, the older boys, assisted by the young ladies of the city, presented a play called “A Strenuous Life”. Both the casts of “Up Caesar’s Creek” and “A Strenuous Life” were directed by Mr. Johnsonius. 
 Feb 19, 1937. The annual McCallie play "Seventeen" was presented in the school auditorium, actors included Mr. A.L. Burns and W.L. Pressly.
 Fall of 1960. The Dramatics Club presented “A Man Called Peter”
 Winter of 1960. The McCallie School Dramatics Club, under the direction of Mr. T.F. Walker, presented a total of four plays in the Winter. With them being two-night performances by students and two performances by faculty members in daily assemblies. The plays were “Camp Keep-Off”, “Circumstances Alter Cases”, “Why am I a Bachelor?”, and “A Mad Breakfast.”
 Apr 9, 1976. The Hunter Arts Center houses the drama department for 28 years until being converted into classrooms and a band room. The Hunter Theater opened with the “Petrified Forest”.
 Feb 17-19, 1983. The play "See how they run" was performed in the Hunter Theater for three nights.
 Fall of 1994 the Fall production of the drama department is “My three angels”. The plot centers around humor, and murder.
 Winter of 1994 the end of Winter the drama department, under the direction of Mr. Royer, puts on “Catch-22”. The first performance on Friday night was so crowded two additional rows of chairs had to be added in Hunter Theater to accommodate the guests.
 The 1994 Spring musical took place at the Frierson Theater. The musical was “South Pacific” and the cast consisted of the talents of 80 McCallie and GPS students serving in the cast, orchestra, or stage crew.
 In the Spring of 1994, the student-directed play “The Life and Death of Almost Everybody” is produced, which raises theological questions about God and man’s relationship with him. Directed by students Will Leonard and Josh Sanders.
 October 21, 2004. Ridgedale Gym is converted into the Walker Black Box Theater (named after long-time theater teacher T.F. Walker) and opened with "The Petrified Forest", the same play that opened Hunter Theater in 1976.
 Fall of 2019 Romeo and Juliet is produced at McCallie, while Antigone is produced at GPS.
 Spring 2020 Night of the Living Dead is canceled at McCallie due to COVID-19, along with the Sound of Music at GPS.
 *For the 2020-2021 School year, all coordinate productions with GPS are canceled, which makes all plays during this time completely male.  Fall of 2020, The Dumas Project, an original play written by Stevie Ray Dallimore, is produced. The play blends the social issues of 2020 with the French hero Dumas in the 18th century, to create a play with great social commentary.
 Spring of 2021, Night of the Living Dead is performed by the theater department after it was canceled due to COVID a year prior.
 Spring of 2022, at McCallie the play was Love Sick, with the lead being Ben Johnson and the Spring musical was, having been canceled two years prior, The Sound of Music, with Fletcher Ard as the lead.
 Fall of 2022 at McCallie Our Town was produced, with Morgan Wills as the lead, and at GPS Radium Girls was produced, with Ellie Odle as the lead.
 Winter of 2023, the 9th annual 10-minute play festival was produced in the Black Box with 8 student-written plays being produced.
 Spring of 2023, at GPS the Spring musical was Mamma Mia, with Chase Reynor as the male lead, and at McCallie, the play was Puffs with Dandy Reynoso Diaz as the lead.

Athletics

McCallie's varsity sports teams compete in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) in football, cross country, track and field, basketball, golf, bowling, tennis, wrestling, baseball, squash, and soccer. In 2023, McCallie secured the tennis state championships and also placed runner-up in track and field. The school competes on the varsity level in non-TSSAA sports, including crew, lacrosse, swimming, diving, climbing, and ultimate frisbee.

The baseball coach is former Major League Baseball player Tim Costo.

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 offers seven boarding camps and 18-day camp options. Programs are offered in enrichment, sports, or leadership camps (for children aged five years old and up).

Notable Alumni
Sean Ryan '10: Olympic American athlete (competed in 2016 Summer Olympics in Men's 10 km Open Water Swimming)
 Michael Bingham '04: Olympic medalist in track and field
 Jon Meacham '87: Pulitzer Prize winner, former editor of Newsweek, contributing editor at Time, and best-selling author
Giovanni Alberto Agnelli '82: CEO of Fiat Group
Zach Wamp '76: Former member of the United States House of Representatives of Tennessee, former candidate for Governor of Tennessee 
Marshall Fletcher McCallie '63: United States ambassador to Namibia from 1993 until 1996 under President Bill Clinton
 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
 Pat Robertson '46: American media mogul, televangelist, political commentator, former Republican presidential candidate, former Southern Baptist minister, and founder and Chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and host of The 700 Club
Howard Baker Jr. '43: Former Senate Majority Leader, White House Chief of Staff, and Ambassador to Japan
John M. Belk '39: President of Belk Department Stores, Inc. and former Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina
 Sonny Montgomery '39: Former member of United States House of Representatives for Mississippi
 James Rhyne Killian '21: Former president of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 Ralph McGill '17: Pulitzer Prize winner, anti-segregationist, and former editor of the Atlanta Constitution

References

External links
 School website
 The Association of Boarding Schools profile

1905 establishments in Tennessee
Boarding schools in Tennessee
Educational institutions established in 1905
Preparatory schools in Tennessee
Private high schools in Tennessee
Private middle schools in Tennessee
Schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee