Modesto High School is a public high school in Modesto, California, U.S.A. It offers the International Baccalaureate Program and the Avid program, Performing Arts Program and was the first public school to do so in the Central Valley of California. Modesto High School is the oldest high school in Modesto and among the oldest in California. 2015 marks year 132. In 1883, Ruliff Stephen Holway saw the need for a high school that could provide for needs extending beyond a primary grammar education. According to Sol P. Elias, member of the first graduating class of Modesto High School students, R.S. Holway was "a young schoolmaster... with the advantage of a charming character and a sympathetic mind... zeal and personality... guided the pupils almost through the entire course until his departure... to accept a professorship at the University of California." This man, MHS' first principal, was responsible for the education of the entire student body, playing a role of both teacher and administrator before he left to teach in the UC system. Forty pupils comprised the first class organized at the first building located at 14th and I Streets; after four years, ten of these students remained to take part in the first graduation of MHS students. In the succeeding years, the number of seniors receiving diplomas fluctuated greatly; the lowest number occurred in 1893 when no one remained in school all four years to graduate. The high school moved to its current location in 1918
Athletics
Modesto High School offers a variety sports on a seasonal basis:
James Algar, an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked for the Walt Disney Productions for 43 years and received the Disney Legends award in 1998. He is known for directing "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice" segment of Fantasia from 1940. After World War II he was asked by Walt Disney to direct the first True-Life Adventure. The film, Seal Island, won an Academy Award in 1949. 1929 graduate
Richard L. Bare, an American director, producer, and screenwriter of television shows and short films. Directed most episodes of the television show Green Acres and seven notable episodes of The Twilight Zone.; 1931 graduate
Harve Presnell, actor and singer known for his run on Broadway as "Leadville Johnny" in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. He reprised the role in the 1964 film The Unsinkable Molly Brown for which he won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year. Later films included Paint Your Wagon, Fargo, and Saving Private Ryan; 1951 graduate
Gene Winfield, American automotive customizer known for work in film and television most notably creating cars for the film Blade Runner and television shows The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Batman, and Bewitched.; 1945 graduate
Cy Young, winner of the gold medal for the javelin throw at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland; the only American to ever win the Olympic gold medal in the javelin throw; 1946 graduate
