McCallie School - Review #1

When the McCallie school says they, "Inspire boys, and build men" they truly mean this. Even better though, McCallie does this in a way that is specifically tailored to how boys develop and learn. Before McCallie, I was a boy who wasn't excited about school, didn't care very much about college, and was an ok student. After McCallie though, I was a young man who was eager to learn, received over a quarter million dollars in college scholarships, and attended one of the top universities in the country. More important than all of these things though was that my time at McCallie developed my character, strengthened my Christian faith, and taught me the importance of honor, truth, and duty. I say these things not to brag, but to show that McCallie is a place where boys can develop into the young men that they have the potential to be.

McCallie really developed me into a young man. The places where I felt I grew the most was the development of my character and my drive to learn and take my education seriously. It was during my time at McCallie that I learned to carry myself appropriately and truly value the principles of honor, truth, and duty. McCallie really wants to develop boys who will grow up to be the men who will serve and make a positive impact on the people and communities around them. Academically, I made huge leaps. This was due to the tremendous academic support that McCallie provided through its teachers and learning centre.

My advice for kids going to boarding school would be to embrace the experience. There are going to be uncomfortable moments regardless of the school that you choose to go to. Do not let these uncomfortable experiences stop you from making the most of the opportunities and resources as well as all the fun you will have at boarding school. You will only get out what you put into your experience regardless of the school you attend.

Overall, I loved the community of McCallie. There are so many men on campus who are willing to poor into the boys and who want to see them succeed. I would not be who or where I am today if I didn't have the mentors and supporters who poured wisdom, support, and discipline into me during my four years at McCallie. I have also made friends at McCallie who will be good friends for the rest of my life. There are so many quality guys on campus that you get to share experiences and grow with. On top of this, it all happens within a Christian context.

McCallie is a special place. You can read all you want about the school, but once you get on campus and visit, you will see for yourself the kind of place it is.

The thing that I enjoyed the most about academics at McCallie was that though it was difficult and challenged me in many ways I always had the support to succeed. Whenever I was struggling, I knew that my teachers were more than willing to help. If my teachers were unavailable, I also knew that I could go to the learning centre where there were full-time staff who could help with any subject I needed. I could even sign up for regular tutoring sessions (which I did) through the learning centre. Academics at McCallie are top-notch and will challenge any boy regardless of his academic level.

The athletic programs at McCallie are elite. The facilities and quality of coaches at McCallie are extremely high regardless of the sport. McCallie plays in a very competitive athletic conference with other boarding and private day schools. The coaches at McCallie also do a very good job at helping boys who want to play in college. Coming in as a 9th grader, I knew nothing about college sports and the process of becoming a college athlete. My coaches helped to prepare me technically and physically for the next level. They also helped me create highlight tapes as well as helping me reach out and communicate with college coaches. Due to the fact that McCallie has an excellent athletic reputation it is not surprising that you will often find a handful of college coaches at McCallie athletic events.

I am not a super artsy person generally, but I do have a pretty intense passion for photography that the Visual Arts program at McCallie really helped to cultivate and grow. The Arts program and McCallie are well funded by the school and well supported by the student body. The Arts program in particular was a really good way to meet and interact with girls from McCallie's sister school (GPS).

Mc Callie offers a plethora of extracurricular activities. There are activities for boys who love sports and there are activities for boys who enjoy things that are more academically based. There are also activities for boys who enjoy spending their time outside but would rather be hiking, backpacking, or mountain biking than spending their time on an athletic field. The amount of different activities at Mc Callie was something that I really appreciated because it also allowed for boys who didn't have something they were passionate about to explore their interest and find something that was just right for them.

Dorm life can be something's that is challenging at times, but McCallie really does help with this big transition. There are student RAs in each dorm as well as faculty members and their families that live with the boys. This really gives each dorm a real sense of community as well as countability as often times faculty members are raising their young children in the dorm with the boys. I am still really close friends with a lot of the guys that I lived with during my time at McCallie. The dorms themselves were very spacious with a good amount of storage. Bathrooms were also very up to date and clean. The staff who came into the dorm to clean were always very nice people. Dorms on campus were pretty centrally located and never too far from anything on campus.

The dining hall food is one of the things that I really miss about Mc Callie. The selection each day was wide and very tasty. The dining hall serves four meals each day during the week, with the fourth one being a favorite of the boarders. This serving would start at about 9pm and go until 10pm. Guys would usually come in and get food after study hall or after an athletic event that might have run late. There are no assigned seating when in the dining hall. The dining hall itself is very beautiful with quality wooden finishes and flags representing the countries of the student body hung around the seating area.

Since McCallie is right in the heart of Chattanooga, the opportunity for off-campus activities and fun was great. The school is less than a 10 minute drive from the Tennessee Aquarium and downtown Chattanooga. Geographically, McCallie is within 2 hours of Nashville, Knoxville, and Atlanta so there are often trips to professional and college sports games as well as other attractions in these larger cities. This was a big factor for me when looking for the right school because I wanted a place where I would love campus life but could also get off campus and avoid a feeling of being stuck.

Social life at McCallie was great. There also almost 300 other boarding students on campus as well as a few hundred more day students that often times opened up their homes to boarding students. Spending weekends at day student friend's house was something that was a regular occurrence for boys that wanted to do so. McCallie's sister school GPS also brought girls on campus after the school day was done. This allowed for boys to meet and make friends with girls. It was not uncommon to see students from GPS and Baylor (another boarding school in Chattanooga) at McCallie sporting events. There are plenty of opportunities to socialize.