Bij de Haagsche Schoolvereeniging staan we voor een belangrijk motto. Wij geloven dat we moeten doen wat we kunnen om wereldburgerschap te bevorderen en vaardigheden te ontwikkelen bij onze leerlingen die ze nodig hebben voor levenslang leren. Onze missie is daarom: global citizenship, lifelong learning!
The Haagsche Schoolvereeniging has a unique and long history. It began in 1891 with an unlikely proponent – a Leiden factory owner by the name Mr. C.H. Kranz. He decided to set up a small school on Koningin Emmakade in The Hague based on the Swedish model, where the daily timetable offered subjects such as handicraft, not as preparation for jobs in the craft industry, but because an emphasis on craft coupled with the academic subjects would, he believed, lead to a total well-balanced development of the young individual.
This was a unique and pioneering development in the Netherlands and the school attracted a lot of attention from many interested parties. Pupil intake was high and it was necessary to move to another building that was located by the Buitenhof. The originality of such an educational establishment is evident in that the reigning Queen Emma and her daughter Wilhelmina paid a visit to the school.
The famous Dutch educator and philosopher Jan Ligthart also enrolled his children at the school and went on to play an important role in transforming the little school at the Buitenhof into what became the Haagsche Schoolvereeniging. Interested parents could join the School Board and in that way they exercised their influence on the school’s development. The Board decided to set up an association which did not need to rely on Government funding and that would be financially independent. Such financial independence, coupled with the visionary ideas of the founders, ensured that the Haagsche Schoolvereeniging was truly a “school of the parents”.