Serra and Bridges high schools celebrate ‘extraordinary’ Class of 2021

By Elysse James

Serra High students receive a special sendoff during their graduation ceremony, with staff members giving personalized speeches about each individual graduate.

It’s a tradition at the small school that has lived on in a year that provided unique and difficult challenges worldwide.

“We’re celebrating this this particular class of students that has really had a senior year unlike any other,” said Principal Meg Ervais, “and the resilience and grit and determination they’ve shown to get to this finish line despite a lot of challenges.”

The year culminated at Serra High School this year with a bevy of senior activities to celebrate leading up to the school’s graduation ceremony honoring the Class of 2021.

Leading up to graduation, the school held a senior event at the El Adobe restaurant and a staff and student soccer scrimmage.

“I’m just really proud of them,” Ervais said. “The skills and determination they developed, especially during this year as hard as it’s been, is going to make this special group — this Class of 2021 — probably more able to tackle the challenges in their future.”

Serra High School students were in a unique situation as the only high school to be back on campus, in person, five days each week starting in October during the pandemic.

As a small high school, they were able to bring back activities and in person events much sooner than larger campuses, school officials said.

“I think that our young people have been incredibly adaptive,” Ervais said. “They have adapted to distance learning, they have adapted to in person learning with unusual restrictions like masks and social distancing that definitely change the climate of a school, and they have gone along with whatever we needed to do to keep school open and safe with an understanding that we are all trying to make it the best year we can given the limitations.”

“Congratulations to every member of the Class of 2021, because it’s an extraordinary class,” Ervais said.

See photos from the Serra High School and Bridges Community Day High School graduation ceremony below.