E. C. Glass High School is a public school in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States, overseen by the Lynchburg City School Board. It was founded in 1871 and was named for long-time Superintendent of Public Schools in Lynchburg, Edward Christian Glass.
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Academics
E. C. Glass High School offers a range of Advanced Placement courses, including: AP Human Geography, AP World History, AP Research, AP American History, AP US Government, AP Comparative Government, AP African American Studies, AP Psychology, AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, AP Computer Science, AP Calculus AB & BC, AP Statistics, AP Latin, AP German, AP Spanish, AP French, AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature, AP Art History, AP Music Theory, AP Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, AP European History, and AP Portfolio Art. E. C. Glass also offers a range of extra classes such as Drafting, Culinary Arts, and Personal Finance.
Some of the awards and recognition for E. C. Glass High School include:
US Department of Education - Blue Ribbon School 1983, 1993
Redbook Magazine School Award 1996
Newsweek Magazine, 2007 Ranked in Top Public High Schools
Best Comprehensive High School in Virginia
Athletics
E. C. Glass High has a rich athletic tradition. Its football team competed in the Virginia High School State Championship Play-offs in 1925, 1930, 1933, 1938, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1988, 1991, 1992, and 1995, and the semi-finals game in 1993, 1994 and 2022. The Hilltoppers won the State Championship in 1930, 1933, 1938, 1988 and finished as state runners-up in 1991 and 1992. . The Hilltopper soccer team went undefeated over many seasons.
Arts
In 1926, E. C. Glass High's literary magazine, Menagerie (formerly, The Critic), was the first to receive the Virginia High School League's Trophy Class award. The literary and poetry sections of the Glass yearbooks, along with other publications and media creations, have sought to help us understand ourselves better across the decades.
Glass Theatre offers a full program in acting and technical theater. Under Jim Ackley, a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, the program won four Virginia theatre championships in the 80's and 90's. They were selected five times to perform on the Main Stage at the Educational Theatre Association National Convention and were named high school theatre champions twice by the American High School Theatre Festival. Glass Theatre represented the United States at the Edinburgh (Scotland) International Arts Festival Fringe five times where they received critical acclaim and performed to sold-out audiences. In 1991, the US Congress named the EC Glass Senior Acting Drama Class Students the winners of the “Young Writers and Inventor’s Award” for their play 'Going Toward the Light', written under Mr. Ackley’s supervision.
In 2012, Mr. Ackley retired after 32 years teaching at Glass - a record. Mr. E. Tom Harris was theater director afterwards for seven years, and was followed by EC Glass alumna and former Broadway and film actor, Allison Daugherty, in 2019.
E. C. Glass offers a full program for musicians. Glass's combined concert and chamber orchestra regularly travels to competitions and performances around the region, often selected to be in the All-Virginia Band and Orchestra event in Richmond.
Additionally, Glass has concert band, wind ensemble, percussion ensemble, and jazz band classes. The E. C. Glass Marching Band, called "The Pride of Old Dominion," performs at football games and competitions around the state. The school also has an award winning Choral Department. Ensembles and classes within the Choral Department include the Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, and Male and Female Acapella Ensemble.
In 2017, English teacher Casey Wood introduced an elective course entitled "Exploring Language and Culture Through Hip Hop". This course follows the historical timeline of classic Hip-Hop culture and allows students to analyze Rap lyrics as poetry. In 2024, E.C. Glass High School's record label, BTG (Break the Glass Productions) released their first album entitled "Break the Glass: Volume 1" which features songs written, produced and performed by students, teachers, and members of the E.C. Glass community.
Rejection of "It Gets Better" Grant
In November 2023, the Lynchburg City School Board made national headlines when they voted 7-2 to throw away an already-gifted $10,000 grant awarded by the It Gets Better Project to E.C. Glass High School students who had applied for the funding to create a quiet tolerant safe space for all students. The students who applied for the grant were quoted by local news as saying the decision "broke our spirits" and that the board "made us feel like we weren’t even there."
Notable alumni
Carl Anderson (singer) – American singer, film and theater actor known for his soulful voice, his hit songs and his moving portrayal of Judas Iscariot in the Broadway and film versions of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. A US Air Force communications technician, a World Wide Air Force Talent Contest singer who toured across the world visiting bases, and a Howard University psychology graduate, Anderson was nominated in two Golden Globe categories for his 1973 film performance: "Most Promising Newcomer" and "Best Musical Actor". Anderson signed with Motown Records in 1972 and contributed to Songs in the Key of Life 1976 by Stevie Wonder, among other credits. In 1986, Anderson and singer-actress Gloria Loring joined for their harmonious duet Friends and Lovers (Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson song), which immediately reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Beth Behrs – American actor, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television graduate, and philanthropist most known for starring in the comedy 2 Broke Girls 2011-2017 and for founding the SheHerdPower Foundation, which helps victims of sexual assaults.
Connie Britton – American actor and Dartmouth College graduate best known for her Emmy-nominated captivating portrayal of coach's wife and mentor Tami Taylor in Friday Night Lights 2004-2011, for playing Vivien Harmon in American Horror Story: Murder House 2011, for her Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie-nominated portrayal of country-music superstar Rayna Jaymes in Nashville 2012-2016, and for featuring with Robert De Niro in the Netflix series Zero Day (American TV series) 2025
Joan Brock (Class of 1964) – Philanthropist and former Rector of the Longwood University Board of Visitors. A 1968 graduate of Longwood, Brock and her husband Macon funded the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Brock Environmental Center, a "Living Building" designed as one of the world's most sustainable educational hubs, utilizing wind turbines and solar arrays to produce more energy than it consumes in its mission of regional bay restoration.
Ruben Brown – American NFL guard who started with the University of Pittsburgh and had a long career with the Buffalo Bills and the Chicago Bears. Selected nine times for the Pro-Bowl and four-times All-Pro 1995–2007.