GHS History

Brief History of Glastonbury High School

Glastonbury is dedicated to providing an excellent educational system for the youth of our community. Few towns have chronicled the widespread commitment from community members, parents, students and educators to this pursuit of excellence as Glastonbury has done over the past century. The following brief overview of the history of secondary education in our community is courtesy of the Glastonbury Historical Society.

During the 18th century, numerous private academies provided the only opportunity in Glastonbury for education beyond the district primary schools. The academies depended on tuition fees for their financial support. The most prominent academy was the Glastonbury Seminary built in 1796 that offered classes in Latin, Greek, English literature, philosophy and algebra. In the early 19th century the curriculum was expanded to include chemistry, astronomy, trigonometry, surveying and navigation. The Seminary burned down in 1845 and was not rebuilt.

In 1870 the private Glastonbury Academy was opened in a building located behind the present Town Hall. $8,000 was raised and used to erect and equip the building. Tuition, set by the Academy trustees, was collected by the school principal who also taught classes and paid expenses including salaries. The first term opened with attendance of “43 gentlemen and 50 ladies.” The parents of students from South Glastonbury organized private transportation via a horse and wagon, but during farming season the horse was needed for work so the students walked.

For 20 years the Academy provided good secondary education. By 1890 it could no longer exist on the small tuition collected and an appeal was made to the citizens of Glastonbury for support. Three individuals responded with a total of $25,000 to endow the school as a Free Academy. For the first time, free secondary education became available for Glastonbury children. When the endowment failed to meet all of the expenses, the Town appropriated annual funding to help support the Academy. In 1901 the Town voted to establish a public high school and in 1902 the school was turned over to the High School Committee, the predecessor of our current Board of Education.

In 1922 the town authorized building a new high school on the Academy School site. The new high school, built in 1922, cost $150,000 and included a $25,000 addition in 1926. It served as a four-year high school until 1953 when its last class graduated.

On May 21, 1952, a Junior-Senior or six year high school was voted in at the Town Meeting to be erected on Hubbard Street at an estimated cost of $1,544,600. This new building, with 35 acres of land, opened to students on September 9, 1953. Since the 1950s this building, the present Glastonbury High School, has served thousands of students. Several renovations of the building have taken place over time with the most recent renovations completed in 2007.

Up-to-date facilities aid the educational program, but our outstanding educators, including teachers, administrators and support staff, have guaranteed a quality education for Glastonbury residents for decades. Our educational programs stress a current and forward looking curriculum and organizational structure that is unparalleled in the state and the nation.

In 2007-2008 the educational community will celebrate the opening of the newly renovated high school, the 50th anniversary of the nationally recognized foreign language program, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of curriculum directors, 50 years of NEASC accreditation and over a century of community commitment to the curricular and extracurricular educational process in Glastonbury.