Optimist international School

We are a public international school in the Netherlands offering a happy, safe and encouraging learning environment where everyone feels welcome and valued. Surrounded by nature, our location in Hoofddorp (Haarlemmermeer) is 15 minutes from Schiphol Airport and the city of Haarlem, and only 20 minutes from Amsterdam.

Our school offers two programmes which can be considered as two learning pathways:

1. the International Programme running from group 1 – 7. This prepares for international secondary education starting at the age of 11. Most learning is in English and approximately 15% in Dutch to allow students to integrate in Dutch society
2. the Dutch Enrichment Programme (DEP), an alternative additional programme for our upper primary running from group 6 – 8. This prepares for secondary education in the Netherlands starting at the age of 12. Learning is in English and Dutch, gradually more Dutch is added with an academic focus

For secondary education we collaborate closely with Haarlemmermeer Lyceum, a bilingual secondary school, along with other International Secondary schools in the area to support smooth transitions for our students.

We make learning visible by providing inquiry-based education and giving children the opportunity to discover and develop their unique talents and learning skills. We embrace each child’s continuous learning journey; ‘Bringing out your child’s inner magic’.

Our language of instruction is English, and our core programme is based on the International Primary Curriculum (IPC). Learning guidance is taken from the British National Curriculum (NC) for language and mathematics.

Along with our class teachers and learning support assistants, we also have specialist teachers for additional support in English, Dutch as an additional language (DAL) and physical education (PE). We also offer sport, art, music and dance based extra-curricular activities, and more!