Join Us For Back to School Night Tomorrow Night |
We welcome you all to join us for our first ever virtual Back to School Night tomorrow night,Thursday August 27, starting at 6:45 p.m. over Zoom. The virtual event begins with a brief introduction from our Principal, Charlie McGrath and our Assistant Principal of Academics Keith Strange. A link will be sent to you tomorrow evening with the Zoom address for the welcome. This will be followed by 10-minute presentations by each of your son’s teachers following the schedule below:
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6:45 p.m. -6:55 p.m. -- Welcome
7:00 p.m. -7:10 p.m. -- 1st period
7:15 p.m. -7:25 p.m. -- 2nd period
7:30 p.m. -7:40 p.m. -- 3rd period
7:45 p.m. -7:55 p.m. -- 4th period
8:00 p.m. -8:10 p.m. -- 5th period
8:15 p.m. -8:25 p.m. -- 6th period
8:30 p.m. -8:40 p.m. -- 7th period
You should receive emails from each of your son’s teachers with their Zoom links as well as the specific time for each presentation. As a backup, if you do not receive the Zoom links from your son’s teachers, your son will be able to share the links through the Student Portal by following his schedule. We look forward to welcoming you on Thursday evening! Please listen to Principal McGrath's message below.
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Plans to Get Student-Athletes On Campus Beginning September 8
We are hopeful that we will be able to get our student-athletes back on campus to participate in general conditioning beginning September 8. Sessions will be run after school and although cohorts will be broken up by sport, training in a specific cohort does not mean that a student is making a commitment to play that sport and that sport only.
Once official sport seasons begin, each sport will conduct its standard tryout process. Next week, coaches will be sending out an email to determine what sports each student plans to participate in for the training sessions. The email will also contain more specific details about check-in procedures and dates and times of the conditioning session for that sport.
All conditioning sessions will be conducted following County of San Mateo and California Department of Public Health guidelines.
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Spring Awards Night to take place in September- Date to come
We are busy planning our awards ceremony that was canceled last May. We will reveal a date for this event next week, but we look forward to celebrating the recipients in the current sophomore, junior, and senior classes.
We anticipate that this event will be conducted virtually, very similarly to the Senior Awards Night for last year’s seniors which was so well received in May.
We anticipate that this event will take place in September and we will announce the exact date through Spotlight on Serra.
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Serra's New House System Shows Padres Spirit Across Classes |
Many have asked about this year’s new house system at Serra. The house system is a yearlong spirit competition among our student body. Various house challenges will display Padre spirit and bring glory to their classes by winning the coveted spirit trophy.
Bragging rights to the spirit trophy used to be held by the class with the most spirit clout, but over the years the spirit trophy was automatically handed over to the senior class. This new house system livens our student body's enthusiasm and competitive desire to win the trophy. Who doesn’t love a little friendly competition?
To level the playing field, the Student Council decided to divide the entire school up into equal teams with each team having seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen. This would ensure the teams would truly be able to compete on an even scale without fear of senior domination or underhanded tactics.
Each house, named Compassion, Integrity, Inclusion, and Respect, is a team. Each week there will be different competitions that test a Padre's courage, wisdom, artistic or athletic ability. Each competition will award point to the house as follows. Points are awarded given the place each house ranks. At the end of the school year, the spirit trophy will be awarded and a reward will be determined.
Students received their house invites vie email. This weekend’s house competition is artistic design. Students are being asked to create a "Coat of Arms” for their house. This competition will be posted in each student’s Google Classroom.
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Padre Core Days
On Padre Core Days, students will gather either virtually or on campus in established cohorts on rotating Wednesdays to participate in a variety of activities. The activities include Mission and Brotherhood advisories, counseling support, college advising, social events, and teacher office hours. For the first few weeks of the school year, Padre Core Days will focus on welcoming our new freshmen into the Serra community, hosted by their junior Big Brothers. Today was a zoom event for freshmen in the blue and gold cohorts. We anticipate beginning Padre Core Days for all other Serra students in September. Scheduled Padre Core Days can be found day-of on the Daily Announcements section of our website or on the master calendar.
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Get Involved: Come Join the Serra Mothers' and Fathers' Clubs
Parents are a vital part of the Padre community. We hope you will consider joining one of our parent groups. The Mothers' Club and Fathers' Club are fantastic ways to stay connected and meet new people.
All registered members will receive a Serra item of clothing. Choose from a hoodie sweatshirt, a polo, a T-shirt or a vest! Get into the Padre spirit!
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Serra's 2019-2020 El Padre Yearbook to be Published and Delivered Soon |
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As many of you are probably aware, the shelter in place order in Spring 2020 affected our timeline for publishing and distributing the 2019-2020 El Padre Serra Yearbook. Not only was the yearbook team unable to complete their yearbook submission to the publisher, but many of the traditional spring semester events did not take place and thus could not be submitted. On top of that, the publisher was forced to shut down. Over the summer months, our yearbook moderator Mr. Lawrence Long worked to complete last year’s yearbook and submit it to our publisher where production has resumed. As soon as we have an expected delivery date and protocol for delivering the yearbooks we will notify parents through Spotlight. Last year’s graduates will be informed as well. |
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Common Ground Speaker Series Features Virtual Season: First Event Sept. 17 |
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Common Ground is featuring Laura Markham, Ph.D and Scott Erickson, Head of Schools at Phillips Brooks School for a virtual talk titled, Just Breathe: Peaceful Parents, Happy Kids, on Thursday, Sept. 17, from 4 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
No one is prepared to parent through a pandemic – the stress of being at home may bring added battles with our kids and struggles to find the sweet spot between spoiling and discipline. As schooling from home starts, fostering cooperation and learning independence are more important than ever. Clinical psychologist Dr. Laura Markham helps parents adopt practical strategies for raising children who want to cooperate. Parents will learn to create a more peaceful home where affection, connection and humor help resolve conflict happily. Visit Common Ground for more information.
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Download our free Serra App TODAY!
Select your mobile app store below and download directly to your device. Or, search for the app on your phone. Once you download the app, you can log in with your last name and email address.
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Wishing you a fantastic week!
Director of Marketing and Communication
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Junipero Serra High School | 451 West 20th Avenue | San Mateo, CA 94403 | serrahs.com
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