Mount Olive High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Mount Olive Township, in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Mount Olive Township School District. The school is located in the Flanders section of the township.
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,511 students and 117.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.9:1. There were 188 students (12.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 74 (4.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Mount Olive High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
History Before joining the West Morris Regional High School District, which opened for the 1958–59 school year, students from Mount Olive had been sent to attend Hackettstown High School, Netcong High School or Roxbury High School, all of which were becoming overcrowded in the 1950s and would no longer be able to accommodate students from Mount Olive.Jennings, Allison. "The Growing Pains In Mount Olive Set Stage For Withdrawal Attempt", Daily Record, December 4, 1977. Accessed October 20, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Township high school youngsters attended school in Netcong, Roxbury and Hackettstown.... By 1953, high school facilities in surrounding communities were becoming crowded because of growth in their own towns; there was no longer room for the Mount Olive children."
The original school opened in October 1972 and was operated as West Morris Mount Olive High School by the West Morris Regional district, until voters from Mount Olive Township and the other constituent municipalities approved a referendum to have Mount Olive leave the regional district effective with the start of the 1978–79 school year.Day in the Life: Mt. Olive HS, Daily Record, accessed January 3, 2007Roman, Linda. "Split School District Finds Advantages", Daily Record, August 31, 1980. Accessed March 25, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Voters from the Mendhams, the Chesters, Washington Township and Mount Olive the communities which comprised the 130-square-mile district, with three high school buildings overwhelmingly approved a referendum for Mount Olive's withdrawal from the regional district in December 1977. This made Mount Olive the first district in the state to do so. Deregionalization became effective July 1, 1978.... West Morris Central High School became the district's first school in 1958. In 1970, a second school was built in Mendham. In 1972, the third high school was built in Mount Olive." West Morris Mount Olive High School Class of 1978 was the last graduating class from this facility under the regional administration. The high school building and remaining faculty became part of the Mount Olive Township Schools.
Awards, recognition and rankings In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 482nd out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 50th among all high schools in New Jersey and 33rd among the state's non-magnet schools.Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2016", Newsweek. Accessed November 11, 2016.
The school was the 97th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology.Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014. The school had been ranked 69th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 90th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 26, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 107th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 26, 2011. The school was ranked 114th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state."Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 109th out of 381 public high schools statewide its 2011 rankings (an increase of 35 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (85.9%) and language arts literacy (96.4%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011 , Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 4, 2012.
Athletics The Mount Olive High School MaraudersMount Olive High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools located in Morris, Sussex and Warren counties, operating under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).Home Page, Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference. Accessed August 27, 2020. "The Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference prides itself on being one of New Jersey's premier high school conferences and is comprised of 39 high schools located in Northwest New Jersey."League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. Prior to the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had competed as part of the Iron Hills Conference, which included high schools in Essex, Morris and Union counties.Home Page, Iron Hills Conference, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 2, 2011. Accessed December 3, 2014. With 1,158 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,060 to 5,049 students in that grade range.NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The football team competes in the Freedom Blue division of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league.Cooper, Darren. "Here's what we know about the new Super Football Conference 2020 schedule", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference (SFC) is a 112-team group, the largest high school football-only conference in America, and is comprised of teams from five different counties."Cooper, Darren. "NJ football: Super Football Conference revised schedules for 2020 regular season", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference has 112 teams that will play across 20 divisions." The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 893 to 1,315 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
Students are eligible to participate in interscholastic sports offered in the fall, winter, and spring seasons. Fall sports include boys/girls soccer, girls tennis, boys/girls cross country, boys football, girls cheerleading, girls volleyball, and girls field hockey. Winter sports include boys/girls basketball, boys/girls indoor track, boys wrestling, and boys/girls swimming. Spring sports include boys/girls track, boys/girls lacrosse, boys baseball, girls softball, boys/girls golf, girls flag football, and boys tennis.
The school participates as the host school / lead agency for a joint cooperative ice hockey team with Hopatcong High School, while Hopatcong is the host school for co-op boys / girls bowling teams. The ice hockey team also includes Hackettstown High School as a partner. These co-op programs operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020. The ice hockey partnership with Mount Olive started in the 2014-15 school year and plays under the Mount Olive name.Corbett, Kayla. "Hopatcong's New Hockey Team", Hopatcong Arrow, January 2015. Accessed December 12, 2015. "This year HHS did something new—we collaborated with Mount Olive HS to bring a sport to Hopatcong students. Beginning with this winter season, Hopatcong High School now has a hockey team."
The field hockey team won the North II Group II state sectional championship in 1981, won the North II Group III title in 1988, 1995 and 1998, and won the North I Group III title in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2004.History of NJSIAA Field Hockey Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023. The 2003 field hockey team won the North I, Group III sectional title with a 1–0 win against High Point Regional High School.2003 Field Hockey - North I, Group III, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. The 2004 team repeated the title with a 3–0 win over Wayne Hills High School.2004 Field Hockey - North I, Group III, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed July 29, 2007.
The girls' cross country team won the Group III state championship in 1989 and 2013.NJSIAA Girls Cross Country State Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023. The team has won the North Jersey sectional title 11 times in their history starting with five in a row from 1977–1981.NJSIAA Sectional Cross Country Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
The boys' soccer team won the North I, Group III state sectional championship in 1999 with a 2–1 win against Northern Highlands Regional High School in the tournament final.State Semifinals - North I, Group III, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed July 29, 2007.
In 2002, the football team finished the season with an 11-1 record after winning the North II, Group III sectional championship with a 14–13 victory against Jefferson Township High School in the championship game, after holding off a late rally by Jefferson.2002 Football - North II, Group III, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed July 29, 2007.NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023."It's 'Title Town' For Mount Olive; Marauders capture first state football championship with 14-13 thriller over Jefferson in the cold", New Jersey Hills Media Group, December 12, 2002. Accessed December 22, 2020. "The final 2:25 of Mount Olive's 14-13 victory over Jefferson in last Friday night's New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association North Jersey Section 2, Group 3 championship game had to be the most harrowing of Marauder coach Jimm Kramer's football career.... Kramer's team was ahead 14-7 when Jefferson drove 85 yards and pulled to within one point at 14-13 when Antonio Irizarry threw a seven-yard scoring pass to Ryan McCarney with 21 seconds left in regulation. But Mount Olive dodged a bullet and captured the first title in school history when the potential game-tying PAT kick by Jefferson's Wayne Guarino was pulled low and to the left. Mount Olive (11-1) appeared to have the game and the title in hand up after Jefferson (9-3) was flagged with a 15-yard penalty for blocking below the waist, a setback that left the Falcons with a second-and-23 on their own 21 with 1:20 to play."