Dear Serra Supporters, Family and Alumni,
Welcome back to another year of Cavalier Athletics! I hope everyone had an enjoyable and restful summer. We had a very productive summer on campus, and we are really looking forward to the 2011-2012 year. I know our young men and women are going to experience tremendous amounts of success in the classroom, in the community, and on the playing fields in our upcoming seasons.
AAfter a truly unprecedented 2009-2010 in which we were named the California State School of the Year and ranked as the #4 athletic program in the nation, many wondered how Serra would respond in 2010-2011. Thanks to the dedication and hard work of our players, coaches, and supporters, Serra again experienced outstanding success last year. Two of our teams, football and girls basketball, repeated as CIF champs! These accomplishments, however, should not overshadow the achievements of our track program. The boys have won 9 CIF titles in the last 10 years, and the girls have won 3 CIF championships in a row.
Serra is also especially proud of our girls volleyball and boys soccer teams. These teams won their first ever league championships. Additionally, our boys baseball team advanced further in the playoffs than ever before. I am confident these teams will build upon their success and be the next ones to win CIF titles.
In addition to our accomplishments on the field last year, we also saw success in the classroom and in the community. Serra had a record number of 18 students sign scholarships to play sports in college. This is a testament to their ability to combine academic and athletic achievement. Once again, Serra had 100% college attendance from its senior class, and this says so much about the academic mission of our school. Furthermore, all of our athletes participated in community service via their Christian service requirements, and many of our coaches scheduled additional community services trips for their teams in the surrounding communities.
Over the past two years, we added swim and golf to our athletic offerings. This spring we added another sport: tennis is back at Serra! This gives our moderately sized school of just over 650 students an athletic program of 20 sports with 41 different teams. I do not know of any school our size offering as many opportunities for student athletes as Serra does.
As our programs continue to grow and expand, your support becomes even more important to our success. Our school has made it a priority to keep tuition affordable, and we offer some of the lowest athletic fees in Southern California. In order to keep pace with our rival schools, we need your involvement and support! Please contact the Booster Club to see how you can get involved, or contact our Director of Development, Joe Cormier, to see how you can support our Cavaliers. I can assure you being a part of the Serra Family will be one of the best decisions you can make!
In closing, I would like to mention two rankings that came out over the summer. Our girls athletic program finished #5 out of over 570 CIF Southern Section schools in the Commissioners Cup standings. In the ESPN- Rise rankings, Serra finished as the 35th best high school athletic program in the country. This is nothing short of amazing considering there are over 40,000 high schools in the United States. As head of the athletic department, I can speak for all my coaches and student athletes when I say that we constantly strive to be the best and at the top of these rankings every year. On behalf of Serra High School and the Athletic Department, I would like to thank you for helping us reach that goal.
Sincerely,
Ted Dunlap, Athletic Director