# The McCallie School

The McCallie School is an Endowment / Foundation based in Chattanooga, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Chattanooga, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** 500 Dodds Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37404, United States
- **Founded:** 1905
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** mccallie.org
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/school/mccallieschool/

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The McCallie School, founded in 1905 on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, operates as a private college-preparatory institution for boys in grades 6 through 12. Its endowment arm is guided by a board with deep ties to institutional finance — notably trustees who are active partners at KKR. Asset allocation spans tangible real estate on and near the 500 Dodds Avenue campus, including a sports and activities center, an outdoor stadium, faculty townhomes, and the jointly owned GPS-McCallie Rowing Center shared with Girls Preparatory School. The fund also carries exposure to commercial real estate and maintains an art and drama collection, reflecting a conservative, property-anchored portfolio closely tied to the school’s physical plant and local Chattanooga relationships. Governance sits with a board that includes Jim Burns, who chaired the Investment Committee, and Nate Taylor — both partners at KKR. Trustee Michael Lebovitz is an executive at CBL & Associates Properties, a publicly traded mall owner also headquartered in Chattanooga. Trustee Ben Probasco is a member of YPO. While the precise level of fund commitments to KKR vehicles is not publicly disclosed, the board’s private-equity expertise shapes the endowment’s access to alternative deal flow unusual for an independent school of McCallie's scale. Notable alumnus Ted Turner, founder of CNN, remains a donor figure linked to the school’s network. McCallie's structural differentiator is its endowment governance: a volunteer board loaded with working private-equity and real-estate operators who bring direct institutional dealflow into a nonprofit K-12 balance sheet — a hybrid posture more often associated with liberal arts colleges than secondary schools.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Infrastructure

## People

- Jim Burns — Trustee, former Investment Committee Chair
- Nate Taylor — Trustee
- Michael Lebovitz — Trustee
- Ben Probasco — Trustee

## Questions

### Who oversees investment decisions for McCallie's endowment?

The Board of Trustees holds investment authority, with the Investment Committee chaired at least in recent years by Trustee Jim Burns, a partner at KKR. Trustee Nate Taylor, also a KKR partner, and Trustee Michael Lebovitz of CBL & Associates Properties bring additional real-estate and private-equity expertise to the committee. The school does not publicly name a dedicated internal chief investment officer, relying instead on board-level principal oversight.

### How is McCallie's endowment exposed to alternative investments?

The endowment holds direct real estate including faculty townhomes, campus athletic facilities, and the GPS-McCallie Rowing Center co-owned with Girls Preparatory School. While specific fund commitment levels are not disclosed, the presence of senior KKR professionals on the investment committee creates a pipeline for institutional private-equity exposure uncommon among peer secondary schools.

### What is McCallie's relationship with KKR?

McCallie is not an official affiliate of KKR, but two of its trustees — Jim Burns and Nate Taylor — are partners at the global private-equity firm. Jim Burns previously chaired the school's Investment Committee, embedding KKR-sourced financial expertise directly into the endowment's decision-making and allocation process.

### What real estate assets does McCallie's endowment hold?

The endowment's real-estate holdings include the main campus at 500 Dodds Avenue, a sports and activities center, an outdoor stadium, faculty townhomes in Chattanooga, and a joint ownership stake in the GPS-McCallie Rowing Center. The portfolio is Chattanooga-concentrated and tied to the school's own operations and sister-school partnerships.

## Related profiles

- [The Management Employees Pension Plan (MEPP)](https://altss.com/profile/the-management-employees-pension-plan-mepp)
- [The Melville Charitable Trust](https://altss.com/profile/the-melville-charitable-trust)

---

Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/the-mccallie-school

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology