About MIT

Students are different and high schools are different. However, all students should strive to meet the same learning expectations, and all school communities should be accountable for helping students meet those expectations. However, not all high schools consist of traditional student learners! Nevertheless, that is where Mt. Olive Innovation & Technology High School (MIT) fills in the gaps. MIT is an alternative high school offering creative and innovative educational options to meet the needs of today’s academically diverse student population. We serve students working below grade-level, at-risk of dropping out, needing a smaller classroom, teen parents, gifted and talented, those employed, teenage actors, and those who just didn’t find success in the comprehensive school setting.

Mt. Olive Innovation and Technology High School is located in the small foothill community of Duarte in the East San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County. MIT serves a widely diverse ethnic and socioeconomic population within the communities of Duarte, Bradbury, and sections of an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County. Duarte is bound to the north by the San Gabriel Mountains, to the north and west by the cities of Bradbury and Monrovia, to the south by the city of Irwindale, and to the east by the city of Azusa. Duarte is located on historic U.S. Route 66, which today follows Huntington Drive through the middle of the city. Duarte is also home to world-renowned, City of Hope Cancer Research Center and Hospital.

Mt. Olive High School served as a continuation school from its founding in 1961 until 1995, then it restructured as an Alternative Education Center. In March 1996, it received Preliminary Accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges until gaining its first Six-Year WASC Accreditation in 1999. In 2005 Mt. Olive Alternative Education Center received its second Six-Year Clear WASC Accreditation and then again in 2011. In 2013, Mt. Olive Alternative Education Center changed its name to Mt. Olive Innovation and Technology High School further transforming the new creative and innovative culture for student learning.

Then in 2018, Mt. Olive Innovation and Technology High School did it again, receiving its fourth consecutive Six-Year WASC Accreditation through 2024.

Uniqueness sets Mt. Olive Innovation and Technology High School (MIT) apart from other alternative and continuation high schools in Southern California. MIT continues to evolve offering flexible academic instruction and services to meet the needs of alternative student populations. Sir Ken Robinson, the world-renowned educational advisor and expert, New York Times bestselling author, and most viewed TED talk speaker was quoted saying, “The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn’t need to be reformed — it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardize education, but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions.” This is what Mt. Olive Innovation and Technology High School exemplifies, because we are transforming education and personalizing the student experience.