[2] 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... [who] guided the pupils almost through the entire course until his departure... to accept a professorship at the University of California."
Holway, the school's 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.
Modesto High School offers a variety sports on a seasonal basis: