Junípero Serra High School (commonly Serra or JSHS) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

college preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...

, United States, serving students in

grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also r ...

9– 12. A part of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco The Archdiocese of San Francisco (Latin: ''Archdiœcesis Sancti Francisci''; Spanish: ''Archidiócesis de San Francisco'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the Unite ...

, this school provides education for young men. The school has an academic focus with a college preparatory curriculum.

School history

Serra High School was founded in 1944 by the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco and was originally located at Columbia Drive and Alameda de las Pulgas in San Mateo, which is the current site of St. Bartholomew's Catholic Parish. The original student body consisted of 86 freshmen and sophomores. The school moved to new facilities at 451 West 20th Avenue in San Mateo in the fall of 1955 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 (class of '73) 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 expanded course offerings and completed large-scale renovations. Mary's Courtyard at Serra HS

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.

Academics

More than 60 percent of Serra students are enrolled in honors and

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

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's Class of 2018 received more than $27 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 93 percent of Serra faculty members hold advanced degrees. Serra HS Stadium

Athletics

The Serra athletic program has grown dramatically since its very modest beginnings in the mid-1940s. For a time in the years after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the San Mateo school offered just three sports: Football, basketball, and baseball. Boxing was also available, particularly on one night of the year when so-called student "Golden Gloves" competition was presented. Early on, Serra joined an embryonic Catholic Athletic League, a

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

-wide aggregation of what were then small Catholic schools. The Padres had some significant successes in that circuit. Two of its varsity football teams were unbeaten in 1949 and 1954; those remain the only unblemished football teams in school history. Serra captured five CAL baseball championships and seven CAL football crowns. In 1967, as new Catholic schools were opening throughout the region, the Padres joined what was a direct outgrowth of the CAL, the new West Catholic Athletic League. Since that point, Serra's athletic program has flourished. The school offers 14 competitive team sports. Stars like

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

Lynn Swann Lynn Curtis Swann (born March 7, 1952) is an American former football player, broadcaster, politician, and athletic director, best known for his association with the University of Southern California and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He served on the ...

and

Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...

have attended the school. As time went by, the Padres became one of

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

's signature prep sports entities and the league itself morphed into a state powerhouse. As of early 2018, the school had won 67

West Catholic Athletic League The West Catholic Athletic League or WCAL is a highly competitive high school athletic conference in the Central Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation. The boys division is made up of seven Catholic schools and one nondenom ...

varsity titles, 31 Central Coast Section championships, and two state crowns (basketball in 2016 and football in 2017). Serra athletes had garnered individual state championships in several sports. A number of them had become Olympians. A total of 11 Serra baseball players, including the record-setting Bonds, have played in the major leagues;

Jim Fregosi James Louis Fregosi (April 4, 1942 – February 14, 2014) was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , primarily for the Los Angeles / California Angels. He also played for the ...

, Serra's first big league star, also managed several teams in the majors. Nearly a dozen Padres have played professional football. Brady and Swann, an all-American at USC and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, were both

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

MVP's. Tom Scott is in the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame. In the mid-1970s, Jesse Freitas led the nation in passing at San Diego State. One of the most dominating exhibitions by a Serra football team occurred in 2017 when the Padres, coached by Patrick Walsh, posted an overall 13-2 record (10-0 vs. West Catholic Athletic League opponents, a feat never accomplished before in the history of the league) and won a California Interscholastic Federation state championship, the first for a San Mateo County high school football team since 1926.

Spirituality

Junípero 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

* *

Norm Angelini Norman Stanley Angelini (September 24, 1947 – December 21, 2019) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for two seasons. He pitched for the Kansas City Royals for 21 games during the 1972 season and seven games during the 1973 season ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

David Bakhtiari David Afrasiab Assad Bakhtiari (born September 30, 1991) is an American football offensive tackle for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Colorado, and was drafted by the Packers in the fourt ...

, NFL offensive tackle *

Ruben Barrales Ruben Barrales (born April 14, 1962) is the former Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush, and was also the Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.The Foreign Policy Of George W. Bush: Values, Strategy And Loyalty, by Alexander ...

, Deputy Assistant to

President George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and Director of the

Office of Intergovernmental Affairs The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs is a unit of the White House Office, within the Executive Office of the President. It serves as the primary liaison between the White House and state, county (or county-equivalent), local, and t ...

Peter Barsocchini Peter Barsocchini is an American screenwriter, author, former journalist, and television producer best known for his scripts for the ''High School Musical'' series. Early life and education Barsocchini began his professional writing career whi ...

, screenwriter, author, journalist, and television producer * Bryan Bishop, sound effects engineer * Hunter Bishop, professional baseball player *

, Major League Baseball

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

, NFL quarterback 7×

champion ( XXXVI,

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, XXXIX,

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, LI, LIII, LV) *

Henry Caruso Henry J. "Hank" Caruso (February 24, 1922 – November 26, 2017) was an American businessman. He was the founder of Dollar Rent A Car. Early life Of Italian heritage, Caruso was born in Pennsylvania. His father, August Caruso, worked in the lan ...

, professional basketball player * Scott Chiamparino, Major League Baseball pitcher * Tim Cullen, Major League Baseball

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

Dustin Delucchi Dustin Joseph Delucchi (born 23 December 1977) is a professional baseball player who has played for Major League Baseball organizations Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, and for the Italy national baseball team. Delucchi attended Junípero Serr ...

Major League Baseball outfielder Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres organizations *

Matt Dickerson Matthew Miller Dickerson (born November 9, 1995) is an American football defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UCLA Bruins football, UCLA. He has also played for the Tenness ...

, NFL

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Bob Fitzgerald Robert James Fitzgerald (born 1966) is an American sports broadcaster who is currently the TV play-by-play announcer for the NBA's Golden State Warriors on NBC Sports Bay Area and was a co-host of the radio talk show ''Fitz and Brooks'' on KNB ...

, professional sports

play-by-play announcer In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

, Major League Baseball

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

* Jesse Freitas Jr., NFL quarterback *

Danny Frisella Daniel Vincent Frisella (March 4, 1946 – January 1, 1977) was a Major League Baseball pitcher whose career was cut short when he was killed in a dune buggy accident on New Year's Day Early years Born in San Francisco, California, Frisella w ...

, Major League Baseball pitcher * Kevin Gilbert, songwriter, musician, composer, producer * Randy Gomez, Major League Baseball

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

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, political satirist, author, TV personality *

Gary Hughes Gary Hughes (born 5 July 1964) is an English hard rock singer, songwriter and musician. Apart from his work as a solo artist, Gary Hughes is the front man and main songwriter of Hard Rock/Melodic Rock band Ten. He has also worked as a produce ...

, Major League Baseball executive and scout *

Gregg Jefferies Gregory Scott Jefferies (born August 1, 1967) is a retired infielder/outfielder in Major League Baseball who had a 14-year career from 1987 to 2000. He was a highly touted prospect who became the first two-time winner of the ''Baseball America ...

, Major League Baseball infielder *

William J. Justice William Joseph Justice, (born May 8, 1942) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Justice served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco in California from 2008 to 2017. Biography Early life and clerical format ...

, auxiliary bishop in

Archdiocese of San Francisco The Archdiocese of San Francisco (Latin: ''Archdiœcesis Sancti Francisci''; Spanish: ''Archidiócesis de San Francisco'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the Unite ...

Bill Keller Bill Keller (born January 18, 1949) is an American journalist. He was the founding editor-in-chief of ''The Marshall Project'', a nonprofit that reports on criminal justice in the United States. Previously, he was a columnist for ''The New Yor ...

, ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' executive editor *

Joe Kmak Joseph Robert Kmak (born May 3, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player who played catcher in Major League Baseball from 1993 to 1995. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs. He stands tall and weighs . He bats and ...

, Major League Baseball catcher *

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, American businessman and CEO of

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* Ray Looze, swimmer swimming coach * Stephen Lumpkins, professional baseball / basketball player * Dan Mavraides, professional basketball player *

Tom McBreen Thomas Sean McBreen (born August 31, 1952) is an American former swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, McBreen earned a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the 4×100-meter freestyle re ...

, U.S. Olympic swimming gold and bronze medalist *

Mickey McDonald Raymond Mickey McDonald (born June 2, 1995) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. Early life Raymond Mickey McDonald was born on June 2, 1995, in San Mateo, California. He attended Junípero Serra High School in ...

, Major League Baseball player *

Julian Merryweather Julian Christopher Merryweather (born October 14, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays. Early life and college career Mer ...

, Major League Baseball pitcher *

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, politician *

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, baseball outfielder *

Tony Renda Anthony John Renda (born January 24, 1991) is an American former professional baseball second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox. Before his professional career, he attended the Univ ...

, Major League Baseball player * John Robinson, NFL /

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coach * Tom Scott,

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

Hall of Famer *

Dan Serafini Daniel Joseph Serafini (born January 25, 1974) is an American former left-handed baseball relief pitcher. He was taken in the first round (26th overall) by the Minnesota Twins in the 1992 MLB draft. Early life Serafini attended Junípero Serra ...

, Major League Baseball pitcher * John V. Shields, president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

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, drummer for

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

, former NFL wide receiver *

Michael Trucco Edward Michael Trucco (born June 22, 1970) is an American actor known for his role as Samuel Anders on the reimagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' and his recurring role as Nick Petteruti in ''How I Met Your Mother''. He also appeared on the 2017– ...

, actor * Easop Winston Jr., NFL wide receiver

Tri-School

Junípero 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

*
Great Schools profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Junipero Serra High School (San Mateo, California) Educational institutions established in 1944 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco Catholic secondary schools in California Boys' schools in California High schools in San Mateo County, California 1944 establishments in California