Established in 1950, Junípero Serra High School is a four-year, private, Roman Catholic, coeducational, college preparatory school in Gardena, California, with an alumni body of more than 6,000 located throughout the United States and abroad. Honored as a California State School of the Year, Serra is operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

School History

Junípero Serra High School was founded by James Francis Cardinal McIntyre and the Society of Mary (Marianists) as an all boys school in the South Bay section of Los Angeles. In 1991, Serra expanded its student body and admitted female students for the first time. Serra High is named in honor of Saint Junípero Serra Ferrer O.F.M. (/huːˈniːpəroʊ ˈsɛrə/; Spanish: [xuˈnipeɾo ˈsera];) (November 24, 1713 – August 28, 1784), a patron saint who opened several Spanish missions throughout California.

Admissions

Serra ranks among the top 20% of private schools in California. Serra admissions is determined by a placement examination, personal evaluation, and elementary and middle school grades. Serra is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACS WASC Accreditation Code: 19 99938 999); Western Catholic Educational Association, the College Board, California Scholarship Federation, and the National Catholic Educational Association.

Academics

As a college-preparatory school, nearly 100% of Serra graduates go directly to higher education. The most recent graduating class had 100% college acceptance: 89.6% to four-year and 10.3% to two-year. All students are required to complete eight semesters each of English and religion; six semesters each of mathematics and social studies, four semesters each of laboratory science and foreign language; two semesters each of visual performing arts, physical education with health and college-preparatory elective. Eighty hours of community service are also required in order to graduate. The Serra English Department creates writing manuals using students' works and has a long history of welcoming distinguished writers to campus. Pulitzer Prize winning author Alex Haley visited the Serra campus to keynote the launch of the school's capital campaign, and Serra alumnus and poet Dana Gioia, the former chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts, delivered an motivational talk to students. The Serra Science Department includes the Space Team that designs 3D-printing experiments for the International Space Station (ISS). In 2024, the team's most recent experiment launched aboard SpaceX CRS-30 and docked two days later on the ISS. Serra is one of only nine high schools in the U.S. selected to participate in the ISS program. The Serra Drama/Theatre Department received a foundation grant to support performing arts opportunities for students. Several Serra academic departments and the space team benefit from the support of The Ahmanson Foundation, which has donated more than one million dollars to Serra for the purchase of computers, iPads, and projectors, Wi-Fi and server campus updgrades, and to provide student scholarships.

School Campus

The Serra campus sits on a twenty-four acre plot that at the time of the school's founding was land that was being used as a truck garden with a field of cabbages. The Serra football and track and field teams host home games and meets at the Kretschmar Stadium. The boys and girls basketball teams play at the Dwan D. Hurt Memorial Gymnasium, which is named in honor of Hurt, a Serra alumnus and basketball who died in his sleep in 2016. A Serra alumni and friends sponsored construction project build a foyer on the north side of the gymnasium to showcase Serra's team awards, banners, plaques, and trophies, in celebration of the school's athletic accomplishments.

Athletics

CIF, League, and State Championships

The Serra Cavaliers have won at least twelve California State team titles in basketball, football, and track and field, and have won numerous league, regional, and CIF championships in a variety of sports.

Cal-Hi Sports School of the Year

Serra became the first high school in California history to win both state football and basketball titles in the same academic year. Serra was named "2009–2010 State School of the Year" by Cal-Hi Sports, and based on school enrollment, Serra is the smallest school to ever receive this honor and the first State School of the Year recipient from the South Bay region of Los Angeles since the 1960s.

Notable alumni

Since the first graduating class in 1953, Serra alumni have made contributions to the arts, business, entertainment, law, military, politics, technology, and professional sports.

Arts and Entertainment

Athletics

Business

Law

Military