E. C. Glass High School

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.[3] 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:[4]

1. US Department of Education Blue Ribbon School 1983, 1993
2. Redbook Magazine School Award 1996
3. Newsweek Magazine, 2007 Ranked in Top Public High Schools
4. Best Comprehensive High School in Virginia

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.[5] The Hilltoppers won the State Championship in 1930, 1933, 1938, 1988 and finished as state runners-up in 1991 and 1992. .[6]

Glass Theatre offers courses in acting and technical theater.[7] 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 (Scotland) International Arts Festival Fringe five times where they have always received critical acclaim and performed to sold-out audiences.[8] 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.[6]

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 (formerly, the Critic) was the first to receive the Virginia High School League's Trophy Class award.[9]

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.

• Chris Bailey  - Former Managing Director of the Virginia Theatre Association and Endstation Theatre Company, now Communications Specialist for the Southeastern Theatre conference.
• Beth Behrs – actress, star of the CBS comedy 2 Broke Girls[10]
• Connie Britton – actress, star of ABC's Nashville, NBC/Direct TV's Friday Night Lights[11]
• Cornell Brown – former American football All-American linebacker of the National Football League. National Defensive Player of the Year at Virginia Tech. Baltimore Ravens 1997–2004. Super Bowl Champion 2001.[12]
• 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.[12]
• Brad Butler – American football player of the National Football League. Drafted in the 5th Round of the 2006 NFL Draft to the Buffalo Bills. Four-year starter at the University of Virginia.[13]
• Bill Chambers – record-setting collegiate basketball player for William & Mary[14]
• Bill Chipley – NFL player
• Ken Clay, former MLB player (New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners)
• Katherine Coates, works in television as an Assistant Editor on MeTV's Collector's Call and Through the Decades, writer for Reductress, and attended The College of William and Mary
• Mickey Fitzgerald, former NFL player
• Paul Fitzgerald  - Broadway actor and film writer, director and actor.
• Josh Hall, former MLB player (Cincinnati Reds)
• 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 (1943–1964) and key figure in the state's abandonment of "Massive Resistance" to desegregation.
• Faith Prince – Broadway actress[15]
• Sam Sloan – chess player and author
• Randall Wallace – American screenwriter, director, producer, and songwriter most notable for his part in adapting the movie Braveheart for the screen.