Serra's History
Serra Catholic High School is named after Friar Junipero Serra, OFM, the famed Franciscan apostle to California who founded 22 mission churches along the coast. Serra High was established in temporary quarters at Holy Trinity Parish School on September 5th, 1961, with an initial freshman enrollment of 88 boys. The Diocese of Pittsburgh awarded the administration of the school to the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor of the Province of the Immaculate Conception in New York City, who for nearly 40 years have lived and taught Juniper Serra's motto, "Amor a Dios," - Love God.
Groundbreaking for the present site occurred on April 13, 1962; the cornerstone of this building was laid and the school officially dedicated on September 13, 1963 by his Excellency, John Wright, Bishop of Pittsburgh. The first senior class, numbering 96 boys - of which our Dean of Guidance, Mr. Gary Czapor, was a member - was graduated on June 7, 1965.
Serra's first headmaster, Fr. Luke Ciampi, set everything in motion. He started the sports programs with football, basketball, baseball, track and, yes, wrestling teams. He formed the concert and marching bands. A newspaper, called the Eagle, and a yearbook, called the Juniper. He established the first extracurricular clubs: Spanish, French, German, Vocation, Camera, Forensics, and Third Order. His Brown Friars drama group performed its first musical, "Little Mary Sunshine," in 1964. He introduced a devotion known as Marian Night. He commissioned the bronze statue of Fr. Serra which was erected in front of the school on April 16, 1964 (shown above). He heard the first singing of the alma mater in 1965.
Fr. Alexis Anania, our second headmaster, was also with the school from its beginnings. Truth be told, Fr. Al was quite an innovator, too; for it was he who hired the first non-catholic lay teacher in the diocese, who also happened to be the first lay woman teacher at Serra, the late Mrs. Lois Wise, of whom thousands of Serra alumni have so many fond memories. Under Fr. Alexis, who was headmaster for only three years, team teaching was introduced for the Juniors and Seniors in English. Fr. Alex also wore many hats for Serra: Athletic Director, Development Director, Track coach, Golf coach, bus driver, unofficial school photographer, and notary public. Fr. Al, an expert carpenter, built the wooden altar on which all masses for the student body are said in the auditorium. We have sorely missed him since his departure to be Pastor of St. Pamphilus Parish in the Beechview section of Pittsburgh.
Fr. Simeon Distefano served as headmaster from 1970 to 1976. It was, as he remembers it, a "tumultuous" time. Fr. Simeon and his administration were besieged with the task to cut costs and stay solvent. Enrollment was dropping not only at Serra, but also at the Mon-Yough Girls High School in downtown McKeesport. As a solution, Fr. Simeon proposed a merger of the two schools and the result was phenomenal.
Father Simeon introduced the new co-ed institution, a six-day rotating modular schedule--which is still in place today--and is quite an educational tool for teaching students "self-guidance." He also finalized the school's Coat of Arms with the able help of Sr. Roberta Swarckopf.
By 1976, enrollment was again in decline; so when Fr. Kieran Monahan arrived, he was seen by many as "the best thing to come down the Turnpike" for his vision of Serra High was "a place where people cared about people and treated each other as individuals created in God's image." This "sharing and caring" attitude was quickly embraced by area parents, because students started coming back. Fr. Kieran found himself placing extra lockers in the downstairs hallway and in the nooks and crannies under the stairwells. He finally found it necessary to set up portable classrooms behind the school. By the mid-80s, enrollment at Serra had reached an all-time high of 620 students. Serra won two Regional and 15 Sectional athletic championships during Fr. Kieran's time, and in the last year of his term at Serra, Pope John Paul II declared Juniper Serra "venerable."
Fr. Ronald Gliatta became Serra's fifth headmaster in the fall of 1986, and his plans for the school spanned great distances. Accordingly, he proposed an "east meets west" connection with the only other high school named after our patron in the United States: Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, California. To this end, he arranged a student government exchange program. The principal in California was host to Fr. Ronald and our SSG officers; and a few months later, we welcomed their group to spend a week with us.
During his three-year tenure, Fr. Ronald saw the Pope move Juniper Serra one step closer to sainthood in September of 1988. To commemorate that most auspicious event, Fr. Ronald sponsored a trip to Rome to celebrate Blessed Juniper's beatification, with Bishop Donald Wuerl serving the pilgrims as their Spiritual Director. (Fr. Ronald was, by the way, the only high school headmaster invited to visit with the Pope during His Holiness' trip to New Orleans.) Finally, Fr. Ronald initiated the tradition of the Serra Walk-A-Thon, which benefits the Children's Rehabilitation Institute of Pittsburgh and other local charities.
Our sixth headmaster was the late Fr. Steven Sysol, who brought Serra into the 1990's educationally, by having the school participate in its very first Middle States evaluation--a rigorous yet stimulating self-examination process which spanned three years. During Fr. Steven's administration, the diocese once again found it necessary to cut back on subsidies. Those cutbacks, along with steel mill closings, resulted in declining enrollment and subsequent staff constrictions. Fr. Steve had to "bite the bullet" and trim funding for many school activities. His austerity program bore fruit, however, as he brought Serra's ledger into the black for the first time in its history and he still managed to buy the school two new busses. Fr. Steve also introduced the fine tradition of the Communion Breakfast for graduating seniors and their parents.
Our seventh headmaster, Fr. Michael Ledeoux, was like a force of nature in dealing with a diminishing student population. Upon his arrival in 1995, enrollment stood at 312 students then steadily rose. Fr. Michael devoted much time and energy to technology and the raising of computer consciousness at Serra. After five years, the school can boast its own website and three computer labs. With 36 computer stations linked to the internet, students and faculty alike are able to surf the net with ease. Even teachers--at first deemed "computer hopeless" by Fr. Michael--now know their way around the Web.
Most significantly, Fr. Michael worked in sundry ways to bring us the true meaning of Franciscan spirituality. He continually encouraged teachers to lead their students in prayer at the beginning of every class. He is also credited with remodeling our beautiful little chapel in a southwest motif of wood and adobe. To further energize the religious atmosphere, Fr. Michael invited the Franciscan TOR Friars to join the Serra community, one result of which has been the marvelous growth and refinement of our "Electric Friars" choir under the devoted direction of Br. Sean Mary Fitzwater, TOR, our president. Fr. Michael endeavored to make upperclassmen more aware of Franciscan missionary activity in Central America.
Since Fr. Michael's reign, we have had two changes in administration. Brother James Boyle, TOR, was headmaster from 2000-2002. With the departure of Bro. James in the Spring of 2002, Serra is now under its first lay Principal, Mr. Michael Luft. Mr. Luft attended Serra in its beginning, and after college he returned to Serra and has held a variety of positions. He started out as a Religion teacher, and then became Dean of Students. From there, he took on the position of Assistant Headmaster, then Associate Headmaster, and now Principal.
As anyone can see, our school has gone through a great deal of changes in its past, all of which have brought us to our present state as a quality provider of Catholic secondary education.