Schools in the Netherlands As an American
Schools in the Netherlands are so different than in the U.S. There are schools around every corner and you may not even realize it until you see kids coming and going daily.
Schools in the Netherlands are so different than in the U.S. There are schools around every corner and you may not even realize it until you see kids coming and going daily. We have several in our neighborhood that are in walking distance serving kids of all age groups. Our girls walk or bike to school everyday.
When you move here as a US citizen and put your kids into school you’ll need to find an ISK or Newcomers course because inevitably they won’t speak Dutch.
They will spend 1-2 years in this class depending on how long it takes them to pick up the language.
You might be wondering what the difference is in the two types of classes.
Newcomers is for children 6-12 years old. ISK is for kids 12 and older.
They are both Dutch immersion courses for the kids to bridge their language learning so they can go into a regular classroom when they complete it.
One of our friend’s kids went into the ISK course and learned the language in 8 months and went onto regular school this year.
I wish we had chosen this option for our oldest but we really didn’t know and even after talking to an education consultant I feel like we made the wrong decision and we are pushing off the inevitable.
Then there are the Dutch funded international schools as well as the private international schools.
Dutch funded schools are meant for kids who aren’t going to be here for long but need an education that will be recognized no matter where they go. The private international schools are the same. The cost is just vastly different. Dutch funded international schools receive funding from the government whereas the private ones do not.
A lot of people working at the embassies would put their kids in international schools like these because they speak English as the primary language in classes and they will issue an IB which is like a high school diploma in the US. It’s recognized by universities where your child can go on to attend.
Tuition will range from 10,000-30,000 euros per year depending on the type of school you want your kid to attend. The American School of The Hague would be €27,760 / year for our oldest kid.
Depending on the type of school you want to put your kid into will give you a path of tasks to complete.
ISK & Newcomers? Find the municipality website where they detail these courses and fill out the interest form. They will contact you and start the process of finding a school for your child closest to your home and then the school will reach out.
We did this in March of 2025 for our youngest despite not arriving until May and her not starting until September with everyone else. It’s free - just fill out the forms, take your kids for testing if required and show up on the first day of school. They’ll place you in a class as close to your home as possible given they have space.
International schools? You’ll need to apply and fork out a bunch of money of course.
The Hague ISK & Newcomers registration form is here. It was a little hard for me to find at first because I didn’t know what I was looking for so I’m linking it find easily if you’re moving to The Hague.
If you’re not moving to The Hague then you might find these links useful.
Language Classes in Other Cities
Amsterdam has a lot of information available.
Here is what I found that could be useful.
https://www.amsterdam.nl/en/education/language-help/
https://schoolwijzer.amsterdam.nl/en/secondary-education-for-newcomers/#start
Haarlem
Rotterdam
https://www.rotterdam.nl/en/just-arrived-in-the-netherlands-and-off-to-school
Utrecht is a bit harder to nail down but it seems like this could be the school for primary education up to 12 for non-Dutch speaking students.
https://taalschoolutrecht.nl/
Of course if you want to send your kid to an International school you will need to find out what is available in the area you want to move to. There is a site here you can browse.
A month in — how are our girls doing?
The oldest hates a few of her classes because they aren’t her thing. She’s overall pleased with the school and the offerings there - especially lunches. In the U.S. school lunches are a joke.
What do mom and dad think? Well half a year in communicating with this school and a month in of her attending? It seems to be a great education but the staff are not communicating well with us, they dis-enrolled her and refunded our money at one point and then proceeded to take the entire month of September to fix it. You call them and they ask you to email and then they never and I mean never email you back. Overall I would not choose this school if I were to do it again. I’ll let you know how I feel as the year progresses.
Our youngest has always hated school and some days she says she’s had a good day and others she’s complaining about it. I think that is just normal for all kids but school was my escape as a child so I never felt that way personally making it hard to relate. They are learning Dutch through games, reading, play, music and art. It’s a very practical way to learn the language so I will also report back throughout the year.
If you’re reading this and moving to the Netherlands let me know if the comments what you want to know more about. I’m happy to share whatever I can to make your life easier. Being an immigrant is hard so we can band together and do our best to support each other where we can.
Chat soon,
Heather