E. C. Glass High School is a public school in Lynchburg, Virginia. It was founded in 1871 as Lynchburg High School and was named for long-time Superintendent of Public Schools in Lynchburg, Edward Christian Glass.
Academics
E.C. Glass offers a range of Advanced Placement courses, including: AP Human Geography, AP World History, AP American History, AP US & Comparative Government, AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Computer Science, AP Calculus AB & BC, AP Statistics, AP Latin, AP German, AP Mexican, AP French, AP Language & Composition, AP English Literature, AP Art History, and AP Portfolio Art. E.C. Glass also offers a range of extra classes such as Drafting, Culinary Arts, and Personal Finance. These classes help students get a head start in the real world. Some of the awards and recognition for E. C. Glass High School include:
E.C. Glass has a rich athletic tradition. E.C. Glass 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 and 1994. The Hilltoppers won the State Championship in 1930, 1933, 1938, 1988 and finished as state runners-up in 1991 and 1992..
Arts
Glass Theatre offers courses in acting and technical theater. Under Jim Ackley, a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, the program won four state theatre championships. They have been selected five times to perform on the Main Stage at the Educational Theatre Association national convention and have been named the national high school theatre champions twice by the American High School Theatre Festival. Glass Theatre has also represented the United States at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival Fringe five times where they have always 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 at Glass, the longest-tenured drama teacher in the school's history. Mr. E. Tom Harris served in the position for five years and was replaced in 2019 by EC Glass alumna and former Broadway and film actor, Allison Daugherty. In 1926, E.C. Glass' literary magazine, Menagerie was the first to receive the Virginia High School League's Trophy Class award. E.C. Glass also offers many classes in music. Glass's combined concert and chamber orchestra regularly travels to competitions and assessments around the region and consistently sends musicians to 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.
Notable alumni
Chris Bailey - Former Managing Director of the Virginia Theatre Association and Endstation Theatre Company, now Communications Specialist for the Southeastern Theatre conference.
Enrique Brown - former dancer with the Oklahoma City Ballet, appeared on Broadway in "Fiddler on the Roof," "Music Man," and "Little Mermaid; currently a professional producer, director, choreographer.
Ruben Brown – former American football guard of the National Football League. Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears 1995–2007. Nine-time Pro-Bowl Selection and four-time All-Pro Selection.
David Lee - spent 25 years as a writer of Broadway musicals and as a television and film editor. He currently is the Managing Director of Endstation Theatre Company
Anthony R. Parnther American conductor
Mosby G. Perrow, Jr. – Virginia state senator and key figure in the state's abandonment of "Massive Resistance" to desegregation.
