Honored as a California State School of the Year, Serra is operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

[12] The Serra English Department creates writing manuals using students' works[13] and has a long history of welcoming distinguished writers to campus.

[21][22] 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.

[23] The Serra football and track and field teams host home games and meets at the Kretschmar Stadium.

[30] Serra became the first high school in California history to win both state football and basketball titles in the same academic year.

[40][41][42] Since the first graduating class in 1953, Serra alumni have made contributions to the arts, business, entertainment, law, military, politics, technology, and professional sports.