Frequently Asked Questions

1) What is Casa College?

Casa College is a secondary school where adolescents learn through real projects, responsibility, and collaboration. We work based on the Montessori tradition and guide students in finding their place in the world: Who am I? Where do I belong? How do I contribute?

Casa College guides students toward a vmbo-t, havo, or vwo diploma. Students develop a personalized learning pathway together with their coach.

Yes. Students take (school) exams and work towards the national final exam requirements for their diploma.

Projects are the heart of our education. Subject content is discussed in an integrated manner: language, mathematics, science, art and citizenship are given meaning in a real context. At the same time, we keep an eye on the curriculum and exam requirements.

Yes. In addition to project work, there is also room for subject-oriented instructions, independent research and guided learning routes. Students choose together with their coach which form suits them best at that moment.

The day starts in the main group with a check-in/meeting and plans for the day. Students then alternate between project work, instruction, practical activities and reflection. We often conclude together with a retrospective or presentation.

Yes. We work with heterogeneous mentor groups (mixed ages and levels) of approximately 50 students, guided by two to three adults. The mentor group provides a safe base where adolescents are seen and heard, and where they learn to cohabitate and take responsibility.

We do not assess based on standard tests. Students develop insight into their own growth and work with clear feedback. They do take exams for the diploma according to national requirements.

We monitor development with a credit system in which criteria can be taken into account (for example, presentation 60% and report 40%). This makes assessment transparent and fair, with clear rubrics.

In the basis: no. We want learning to take place primarily at school, with guidance and structure.

Yes. Casa College is a bilingual community (Dutch–English). English and Dutch are used as natural languages ​​in lessons and projects.

Yes. Bilingualism grows step by step in a safe learning environment. Guidance is available in both Dutch and English.

At Casa College, freedom always comes with boundaries. We work from the Montessori pedagogy and Positive Discipline: kind yet firm, with room for personal responsibility.

At Casa College, adolescents learn:

  • in projects with social significance
  • across levels, ages and subjects
  • with real responsibility (e.g. restaurant, garden or collaboration with the environment)
  • with guides as coaches, inspirators and instructors

Yes. We collaborate with local entrepreneurs and social organizations, and we also seek international partnerships through Montessori networks and exchanges.

We aim to open Casa College in Pijnacker in 2028.

To achieve this, we must submit an application to the Education Executive Agency (DUO) in November 2026. The minister of education will decide by June 2027 at the latest whether the new school will be built. School can start 14 months later. The application must demonstrate that the requirements for good education of the Education Inspectorate will be met and that there is sufficient interest in Casa College.

To establish a new school, it must be demonstrated in advance that the school will provide good education. The requirements for good education are set out in the Advisory Framework for New Schools.It describes how the Education Inspectorate tests whether the expected quality of education at newly established schools in primary and secondary education is of a sufficient level. She advises the minister on the basis of this test. The inspectorate bases its advice on the information provided by the initiator about how statutory soundness requirements and other elements of quality will be dealt with. This concerns, for example, the provision of citizenship education and guaranteeing safety at school.

In the coming months, we will further shape the substantive development of education at Casa College together with the co-builders in the development team. For more information about how you can actively contribute to the development of education at Casa College, see: Casa College Community

One of the conditions for establishing a new school is that there is sufficient interest. You can express your interest in Casa College by submitting a parent declaration. af te geven.

In the period from July 1st until October 29th, you can support Casa College's initiative with your parent declaration. This shows that there is enough interest in Casa College. These are statements from parents with a child aged 10, 11 or 12 (on November 1st, 2026) and living within a radius of 15 kilometers around Pijnacker - from Rotterdam to The Hague and Leiden. Parents can submit this declaration of support via Duo.nl. We will share a link to the parent declaration for Casa College as soon as it becomes available.

Ouderverklaring is geen inschrijving
Parent declaration is not a registration
With a parent declaration you indicate that you are interested in the initiative. The statement does not constitute registration at the new school and does not mean that you are obliged to register your child there. You can always decide to register your child at another school. niet dat u verplicht bent om uw kind daar ook in te schrijven. U kunt altijd nog besluiten om uw kind op een andere school aan te melden..

For more information about how you can actively contribute to the establishment of Casa College, see: Casa College Community

In the period from July 1st until October 29th, you can support an initiative with your parent declaration. For your parental declaration, you must log in to My DUO with your own DigiD with SMS verification or with the DigiD app. You will need your child's citizen service number (BSN) to issue the parental declaration: to check age, zip code and place of residence. 

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Conditions Parent Declaration:

  • You are the parent or guardian of the child and have the decision-making authority.
  • You can provide 1 parental statement per child, so you or the other parent/guardian and not both.
  • For secondary education, your child falls into the category of 10 to 12 years old on November 1st of the calendar year in which you issue the statement.
  • Your child lives in a postal code area that falls wholly or partly within a radius of 15 kilometers from a measuring point belonging to the postal code of Casa College.
  • You have not supported any other approved initiative in the last 2 years.

 

Postcodes Casa College feeding area:
2235, 2241, 2242, 2243, 2244, 2245, 2251, 2252, 2253, 2254, 2261, 2262, 2263, 2264, 2265, 2266, 2267, 2271, 2272, 2273, 2274, 2275, 2281, 2282, 2283, 2284, 2285, 2286, 2287, 2288, 2289, 2291, 2292, 2295, 2311, 2313, 2314, 2321, 2322, 2323, 2324, 2331, 2332, 2351, 2381, 2382, 2391, 2394, 2396, 2491, 2492, 2493, 2495, 2496, 2497, 2498, 2511, 2512, 2513, 2514, 2515, 2516, 2517, 2518, 2521, 2522, 2523, 2524, 2525, 2526, 2531, 2532, 2533, 2541, 2542, 2543, 2544, 2545, 2546, 2547, 2548, 2551, 2552, 2553, 2554, 2555, 2561, 2562, 2563, 2564, 2565, 2566, 2571, 2572, 2573, 2574, 2581, 2582, 2583, 2584, 2585, 2586, 2587, 2591, 2592, 2593, 2594, 2595, 2596, 2597, 2611, 2612, 2613, 2614, 2616, 2622, 2623, 2624, 2625, 2626, 2627, 2628, 2629, 2631, 2632, 2635, 2636, 2641, 2642, 2643, 2645, 2651, 2652, 2661, 2662, 2665, 2671, 2675, 2678, 2685, 2711, 2712, 2713, 2715, 2716, 2717, 2718, 2719, 2721, 2722, 2723, 2724, 2725, 2726, 2727, 2728, 2729, 2731, 2735, 2741, 2742, 2743, 2751, 2752, 2761, 2771, 2841, 2901, 2902, 2903, 2904, 2905, 2906, 2907, 2908, 2909, 2911, 2912, 2913, 2914, 2935, 3011, 3012, 3013, 3014, 3015, 3016, 3021, 3022, 3023, 3024, 3025, 3026, 3027, 3028, 3029, 3031, 3032, 3033, 3034, 3035, 3036, 3037, 3038, 3039, 3041, 3042, 3043, 3044, 3045, 3046, 3047, 3051, 3052, 3053, 3054, 3055, 3056, 3059, 3061, 3062, 3063, 3064, 3065, 3066, 3067, 3068, 3069, 3071, 3072, 3073, 3074, 3077, 3081, 3082, 3083, 3087, 3089, 3111, 3112, 3113, 3114, 3115, 3116, 3117, 3118, 3119, 3121, 3122, 3123, 3124, 3125, 3131, 3132, 3133, 3134, 3135, 3136, 3137, 3138, 3155, 3195, 3196

At Casa College we do not believe that the design of PTAs should be identical for all students for reliable examinations. In the Netherlands we think it is very normal and even desirable that every school gives its own interpretation to the school exam. Why wouldn't that be possible given differences within a school? Unequal is not unfair. Exactly not! Students are unequal and therefore unequal treatment can contribute to equal opportunities. As long as the final objectives and assessment criteria are the same within a PTA, the paths to this end and the final performances can vary. At Casa College we fill in the space for a school-specific interpretation of the school exam together with the student.

We closely monitor the inspection requirements so that our approach fits within the laws and regulations. In addition, we build on flexible concepts that are already being applied and working in practice at other innovative schools!

The variation within PTAs is managed administratively by properly setting up and maintaining the student monitoring system. An empty box in the student monitoring system means that a student still needs to do something. And we take a practical approach. If six pre-university education students are all working on the same PTA part, we will see whether they can complete it together. So there is order and coordination. But the big difference is that the student is the starting point and not a standard PTA schedule. The starting question is: which students are working on what? Then we'll see what we can combine. Not the other way around.

Students at Casa College take significantly fewer tests than average. By the fourth year, a typical student may have completed around 400 tests—our students do not. Sometimes a student understands the material but doesn’t fully demonstrate it in an exam. That’s why our coaches provide focused support in preparing for the central exams.

The goal is for the student to master the course material, not for us to write down a failing grade. Students are therefore given the opportunity for retakes, we prefer to call it: an opportunity to recover, the space to reflect, learn, try again and grow. Mistakes are not failures but a natural part of learning. We always return to the basic idea of ​​Casa College: the student wants to learn something, we determine what the student must be able to do and then we organize together how the student can demonstrate this. Even if it takes a little longer. 

In practice, it often turns out that flexibility actually makes the process more streamlined. Precisely because students have a say and are well supervised, most of them will conclude something at a time when they can do it. This means you are less likely to encounter the problem that students have PTA tests for all subjects in one week and then simply do not learn one test at all. With us, such a student can determine together with his coach when it is ready for the end. If this is postponed too often, the coach will of course discuss: how do you plan and is that feasible? The result is that few resits are needed, which makes it easier to deal with them flexibly. At Casa College, students have been used to our degree of freedom within clear frameworks since primary school. That is why they can also handle the freedom of choice within PTAs well in the upper grades and are well able to make choices about the way in which they conclude PTA components.