JunÃpero Serra High School (commonly Serra or JSHS) is a Catholic college preparatory high school in San Mateo, California, serving students in grades 9â€"12. A part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, this school provides education for young men. The school has an academic focus with a college preparatory curriculum. The school's core values are "faith, wisdom, service, community and leadership."
School history
Serra High School was founded in 1944 and was originally located at Columbia Drive and Alameda de las Pulgas in San Mateo, which is the current site of St. Bartholomew's Parish. The original student body consisted of 86 freshmen and sophomores. The school moved to 451 West 20th Avenue in San Mateo when the student body grew to 576. In 1978, Michael Peterson was named the first lay principal of Serra and Fr. Stephen H. Howell was named the school's first president. From 2002-2004, Fr. Joe Bradley served as president, overseeing fundraising efforts for major campus renovation. In 2008, Barry Thornton, Ed.d, was named principal and Lars Lund was named president. Under their tenure, the school has expanded course offerings and completed large-scale renovations.
Academics
More than 60 percent of Serra students are enrolled in honors and Advanced Placement courses. Serra has averaged an 80 percent AP pass rate over the past five years, which is more than 20 points higher than the national average. Serra graduates of the past five years are currently attending the following private colleges and universities: Stanford University, Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, Caltech, the University of Notre Dame, Duke University, Northwestern University, the University of Southern California, Swarthmore College, Georgia Tech, the University of Chicago, and Santa Clara University, among many others. Alumni have also been accepted to all campuses of the University of California and California State University, as well as the University of Michigan, the College of William and Mary, the University of Washington and the University of Illinois. Serra's Class of 2016 received more than $17 million in college scholarships.
Serra has a one-to-one device program in each classroom and 99 percent of Serra graduates exceed the minimum course requirements set for the CSU and the University of California. Serra features 30 honors and AP classes and 75 percent of Serra faculty members hold advanced degrees.
Campus renovations
Phase I of Serra's master plan was completed in 2005, featuring new facilities for football, baseball, and wrestling, along with a 150-space parking structure. Phase II was completed in 2011, and created five new science lecture-labs, a new music room, two art classrooms, an academic resource center, and a 550,000-gallon infinity pool for competitive aquatics. In 2016, Serra undertook a smaller project, renovating the playing surfaces used for baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse and track.
Publications
- El Padre yearbook
- Serra Friar newspaper
- Traditions magazine
Fight song
Fight on Serra Padres,
Win the game for Serra High!
Fight, you Serra Padres,
Let them know you'll never die!
Blue and Gold we're with you,
We're behind you all the way!
So fight, fight, fight, Serra Padres, Padres, Hooray!
Hey!
Padre Whisper
P-P-P-A-D, R-R-R-E-S,
P-A-D, R-E-S,
PADRES! (Loud)
P-P-P-A-D, R-R-R-E-S,
P-A-D, R-E-S,
PADRES! (Whisper)
P-P-P-A-D, R-R-R-E-S,
P-A-D, R-E-S,
PADRES! (Loudest)
Spirituality
JunÃpero Serra High School is a Roman Catholic school. It offers faith and theology education through its Campus Ministry program and curriculum. Campus Ministry offers four-day-long Kairos retreats, retreat leadership opportunities, liturgical leadership opportunities and Immersion trips to Watsonville, West Virginia, Nicaragua, San Jose and Los Angeles. The Campus Ministry office also manages the school's Christian Service program. Theology courses offer instruction in the Catholic faith, morality and worship, and stress the importance of individual faith development.
Notable alumni
- David Bakhtiari, Class of 2009, NFL offensive tackle for the Green Bay Packers
- Ruben Barrales, Class of 1980, deputy assistant to the President of the United States and director, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
- Peter Barsocchini, Class of 1970, writer-producer, created Disney's franchise High School Musical
- Bryan Bishop, Class of 1996, sound effects engineer (Adam Carolla Show and Adam Carolla Podcast)
- Barry Bonds, Class of 1982, Major League Baseball left fielder (1986â€"2007) for the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-time NL MVP, 12-time Silver Slugger Award winner, 8-time Gold Glove Award winner, 14-time All-Star selection, and 3-time NL Hank Aaron Award winner.
- Tom Brady, Class of 1995, NFL quarterback for the New England Patriots (2000-), five-time Super Bowl champion (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016), four-time Super Bowl MVP (2001, 2003, 2014, 2016), two-time NFL MVP (2007, 2010), seven-time AFC champion (2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2016)
- Tim Cullen, Class of 1960, former Major League Baseball infielder
- Robert Dugoni, Class of 1979, New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon bestselling author
- Bob Fitzgerald, Class of 1984, professional sports play-by-play announcer, KNBR talk show host and Radio announcer for the Golden State Warriors
- Jim Fregosi, Class of 1959, Major League Baseball shortstop (1961â€"1971) and manager, 6-time All-Star, Gold Glove Award winner
- Jesse Freitas, Class of 1969, NFL quarterback for the San Diego Chargers (1974â€"1975)
- Danny Frisella, Major League Baseball pitcher
- Kevin Gilbert, American songwriter, musician, composer, producer
- Greg Gutfeld, Class of 1983, journalist, editor of The Daily Gut; host of Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld and co-hosts The Five on Fox News Channel
- Keala Keanaaina, American football player
- Gary Hughes, Class of 1959, Major League Baseball executive and scout
- Scott Igoe, Class of 1986, vice president at ABC
- Gregg Jefferies, Class of 1985, Major League Baseball infielder (1987â€"2000), two-time All-Star
- William J. Justice, Class of 1960, auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of San Francisco
- Bill Keller, Class of 1966, New York Times Executive Editor, Pulitzer Prize winner
- Joe Kmak, Class of 1981, Major League Baseball catcher (1993, 1995) for the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs (Baseball Dad in FCLL)
- John Lescroart, Class of 1966, New York Times best selling author
- Chuck Lofgren, Class of 2004, Minor League Baseball pitcher (2010â€"present) for the San Francisco Giants organization California League San Jose Giants
- Stephen Lumpkins, Class of 2008, professional basketball player
- Jeremiah Masoli, Class of 2006-07, quarterback for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- Phil Monahan, Class of 1950, major general in the US Marine Corps and Bronze Star recipient
- Tony Renda, Class of 2009, Major League Baseball player for the Cincinnati Reds
- John Robinson, Class of 1954, former NFL head coach and college football head coach (three Rose Bowl victories as coach of the USC Trojans)
- Tom Scott, Class of 1969, CFL Hall of Fame member winner of five straight Grey Cup Championships while playing with the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL.
- Dan Serafini, Class of 1992 Major League Baseball pitcher (1996â€"2003)
- John V. Shields, Class of 1950, retired president and CEO of Trader Joe's
- Michael Shrieve, Class of 1968, drummer for Santana
- Lynn Swann, Class of 1970, former NFL wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers (1974â€"1982), Hall of Famer, Super Bowl MVP; 2006 GOP nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania
- Michael Trucco, Class of 1988, actor (Battlestar Galactica, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Fairly Legal)
Tri-School
Junipero Serra High School is a part of a program called Tri-School, a partnership with Notre Dame High School, Belmont, and Mercy High School, Burlingame, both all-female schools. The schools host some morning classes with mixed education and collaborate in other activities as well.
References
External links
- Official website
- Great Schools profile