Serra is an exceptional Catholic college preparatory high school for boys.
In the classroom, on the athletic field, within our clubs and organizations, on the stage or in the community, we teach boys to become responsible, resilient young men and honorable leaders—as we prepare our Padres to successfully navigate the complex world that they will inherit.
Serra is a dynamic community where boys thrive.
Our rich and rigorous academic curriculum, wide range of engaging extracurricular activities, and environment of compassion and mutual respect are all hallmarks of Serra. Classmates become brothers, students find a community where they are known and belong, and teachers become role models in an environment that nurtures and challenges students to grow. Our Padres join an inclusive peer group that lasts a lifetime.
In partnership with parents and guided by our Catholic faith, Serra provides a transformational high school experience that offers boys a vision of faith, hope, love, mercy and justice. Our legacy spans 80 years of excellence in Catholic education and includes more than 13,000 alumni.
Located in San Mateo, in the heart of the Peninsula between San Francisco and Silicon Valley, we welcome students of all faiths and backgrounds to bring their gifts and talents to our campus and enrich the diversity of our school community.
Serra is a supportive community and inclusive brotherhood.
Serra’s commitment to an inclusive brotherhoodis rooted in our Catholic mission and embodied in the culture of our school. To know Serra is to understand that we are not just a group of individuals working together, but a community that is defined by—and strives to live by— the faith values that form who we are.
At Junípero Serra High School, we are committed to providing a nurturing environment where students can grow academically, spiritually, and socially. Our dedicated faculty, staff and coaches are passionate about instilling Catholic values and academic rigor in every aspect of our students' education. We seek to embrace the values of what it means to be a Padre–a man of respect, integrity, compassion and inclusion."
- President Michael Fadelli '88
Academic excellence is our focus, and spiritual formation is at the heart of all that we do.
Teachers, administrators, counselors, coaches and staff members throughout the campus step into their roles as mentors supporting students’ personal growth along with their mastery of subjects and skills. Our students’ engagement and learning accelerates in direct response to these positive relationships with their adult mentors. We also see our boys developing strong interpersonal relationships with one another as they internalize what it means to be a Padre brother.
Through formal training and practical experience, our teachers know how to engage boys in the learning process. Whether it’s an activity based on healthy competition, a small group project with hands-on tasks, or a teacher’s consistent practice to allow adequate think-time before calling on an eager respondent, Serra teachers know boys. Check out our Academic Insights video series to learn more about the strategies our teachers use in their classrooms.
The Serra community fosters resilience and grit. As boys build confidence, they give themselves permission to try new things without fear of failure; at Serra, they know their community will be there to support them. This environment allows boys to grow at their own pace, to be their authentic selves, to become confident self-advocates.
Our vibrant academic and extracurricular programs offer boys hundreds of formal and informal leadership opportunities that help them to build critical skills for life beyond high school. From serving as a student body officer, a club president, a team captain or stage manager to accepting responsibility when the science lab team needs someone to articulate the group’s findings, our all-boys environment dictates that it's the boys who step into the leadership roles. Exercising leadership in all of its forms builds student confidence and the embrace of healthy risk-taking.
A defined target audience of teenage boys can influence an English teacher’s novel selection, the ice breakers planned for boys on retreat, the honesty of discussion in senior theology’s focus on men in relationships, or the messages presented by guest speakers in our Mission and Brotherhood program. At Serra, being student-centered also means being boy-centered.
An all-boys school does not mean an absence of opportunities to study and socialize with girls! Our Padres meet up with Mercy and Notre Dame girls in Tri-School classes held on all three campuses, in clubs, performing arts, campus ministry activities and myriad social events planned throughout the school year, strengthening healthy male/female relationships that are vital to a young man’s growth and development. The tri-school environment truly provides the best of both worlds—an environment that helps boys grow into confident young men and develop respectful healthy relationships with women.
Serra's specialized programs focus on character development that supports a healthy lifestyle for young men. The supportive, all-boys environment enables our Padres to learn holistically and grow in faith, which empowers them to discover their place in the world."
