Modesto High, among first in state to have an ag program, gets a farm
Modesto City Schools officially opened its agricultural farm for students at Modesto High School on April 9. All Modesto high schools now offer the hands-on educational experience of raising livestock and tending to crops at an agricultural site.
“This space represents a significant investment in our students and their futures,” Modesto High Principal Phuc Pham-Goulart said during her speech at a ribbon-cutting. “This facility offers authentic real-world experiences that reflect the agricultural richness of our region.”
According to district spokesperson Linda Mumma Solorio, this project has been five years in the making. Modesto High has a greenhouse and an agriculture building on campus, but as interest in the program grew, so did the need for a location with higher capacity and room to home animals.
Modesto High has offered agricultural education for decades and even helped students find places to home the animals they were raising for the Stanislaus County Fair. The farm – equipped with pens for goats, sheep, pigs, cows and chickens and even rooms to use for birthing – will allow students to raise their animals at a district site.
The school has a rich history of agricultural education. It was the first in California to institute an ag education program and the second in the state to have a chartered chapter of Future Farmers of America. The Modesto Irrigation District offered a discounted lease of the land that the agricultural farm sits on at 2573 Bangs Ave. While the school does not offer daily transportation to the site, which is more than six miles from Modesto High, school vehicles will be available to use for specific projects or instructional activity.
Johanson, Beyer and Gregori high schools have on-campus farms, while Davis, Downey and Enochs have offsite farms for their agriculturally focused students, similar to Modesto High.
The $5.5 million investment for the newest farm is a combination of funding from the district and bond Measure L, passed in 2022, which provides the district $198 million for high school facility improvements. The 13,600-square-foot farm — a bit less than a third of an acre — was designed by SKW and Associates and built by Sinclair General Engineering. This facility and the agricultural programs it facilitates are also supported by the J.G. Lau Foundation and Yosemite Farm Credit.
While there already are one cow, and some sheep, goats and pigs in pens, the school will have at least 30 sheep, goats, pigs and cows and 200 chickens by July. Modesto High developed a scholarship program with about $6,000 to distribute among students looking to purchase and care for an animal.
When the animal is sold at the county fair, the money will be returned to the school to support more students. At least 12 students have been able to participate in raising livestock because of the scholarship.
Junior Adrian Hernandez is one of the students who received a scholarship and is raising a pig he named Punch, after Punch the monkey in Japan, at the farm.
“It’s been a really great opportunity for me because I’ve always wanted to show pigs and I have a really big love for animals,” Hernandez said. “[My family] all grew up in San Jose, so this is really new to me, but it’s a really big experience.”
Junior Adeline Pombo is the president of Modesto High’s Future Farmers of America chapter and hopes to study agriculture in college before finding a professional path within it. She is already a judge for livestock competitions. Pombo said her family’s background in agriculture has given her an exposure from a young age.
“While I do come from an agricultural background, most of our students don’t, so this farm provides the opportunity to give kids those hands-on experiences, kids that have maybe never even heard of agriculture,” Pombo said. “That’s something so valuable to our current generation.”
Modesto City Schools Superintendent Vanessa Buitrago, a former Modesto High Panther herself, said this new facility is “about connection to your history and to your future,” as now a part of the legacy these student farmers will leave behind.
“What you see here on this site represents new opportunities for our students to learn and to grow and to find something out about themselves and what they love,” Buitrago said during her opening speech. “It’s to help them find their purpose. New chances for them to discover a new passion and thrive in it.”
This story was originally published April 10, 2026 at 2:00 PM.
