Home > Exhibits > Online Exhibits > Preparatory Academies and Vanderbilt University
| 1905-1945 | James Park McCallie |
| 1905-1949 | Spencer J. McCallie |
| 1949-1951 | William L. Pressley |
| 1949-1965 | Robert L. McCallie |
| 1949-1974 | Spencer McCallie, Jr. |
| 1974-1999 | Spencer McCallie, III |
| 1999-present | Robert K. Walker, Jr. |
The McCallie School was started by James Park McCallie and his brother Spencer J. McCallie, Sr. in 1905 with assistance from their father, the Rev. T.H. McCallie, who served as the school’s first chaplain. The McCallie brothers, both teachers, wanted to provide a school for boys in Chattanooga that prepared them not only for college but for careers in business as well. At the time, a college education was not a common requirement for a successful career. The McCallie School emphasized physical education and athletics, considering them equal to intellectual education — an attitude subsequently adopted by schools across the state. Like many schools, McCallie added a mandatory military training component during World War I that lasted until 1970.
The school remained in the control of the McCallie family until 1937, when a board of trustees — all McCallie alumni — was granted control and the school became a nonprofit educational corporation. The school currently has more than 800 students and 120 teachers, and sends graduates to almost 70 different colleges and universities each year. It is still a boys'’ school, but works closely with Girls’ Preparatory School, founded by Spencer and Park McCallie’s sister Grace McCallie in 1906. (1)