ISOB

What ISOB does

ISOB (Intergemeentelijke Stichting Openbaar Basisonderwijs) is a Dutch nonprofit foundation (stichting) established in 2000 that operates a network of 17–18 public primary schools across 12 towns in the North and Central Kennemerland region of North Holland, Netherlands. The organization serves families with primary school-age children (ages 4–12), offering three distinct pedagogical approaches — Montessori, Dalton, and Freinet — through individual school brands such as OBS De Kustlijn, OBS De Springschans, Kindcentrum Montessori Castricum, and Kindcentrum De Wissel. ISOB also administers school governance for Elckerlyc, a Freinet school operated by Stichting Freinet in Heiloo. Headquartered in Castricum (Sokkerwei 2), the central ISOB-bureau coordinates policy, HR, finance, and educational quality across the network via a staff of roughly 10–15, supported by a five-member Raad van Toezicht (Supervisory Board) and a directeur bestuurder.

The foundation operates on a government-funded revenue model: primary education is provided free of charge to families, with funding flowing from the Rijksoverheid (Dutch national government) through municipal allocations. ISOB holds ANBI (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling) public benefit status and complies with the PO-Raad Convenant Digitale Onderwijsmiddelen en Privacy and the Code Goed Bestuur in het primair onderwijs. Beyond core K–6 instruction, the organization has built out three supplementary product lines: (1) ISOB Academie, an internal professional development platform for teachers and staff; (2) Forte Kinderopvang, an integrated childcare offering co-branded with partner Forte under a 'powered by' label and embedded in five Kindcentrum centers; and (3) Playing for Success, an after-school enrichment program for ages 9–14 hosted at the AZ football stadium in Alkmaar. Technology infrastructure is limited to the third-party Social Schools communication platform. Strategic partnerships span educational cooperatives PPO-NK and Samenwerkingsverband Passend Onderwijs IJmond (for special needs coordination), teacher training institutions iPabo and InHolland (for recruitment pipelines), and municipal authorities across five municipalities. Total headcount is approximately 110, including teaching and support staff across all schools. The current directeur bestuurder, Robert Smid, has departed the organization, creating a leadership transition.

Name

ISOB

Legal name

Stichting ISOB (Intergemeentelijke Stichting Openbaar Basisonderwijs)

Website

https://isob.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

ISOB is a Dutch nonprofit foundation operating 17-18 public primary schools across 12 towns in North Holland, offering Montessori, Dalton, and Freinet pedagogies to families and serving children ages 4-12 via government-funded public education.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Castricum

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices17 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Government Education Funding: Public primary education funded through government (Rijksoverheid) funding allocated via municipalities. Annual reports filed with government. ANBI status indicates public benefit institution status.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ISOB is a nonprofit foundation that operates a network of public primary schools across municipalities in North and Central Kennemerland, North Holland. It delivers primary education (ages 4-12) through multiple recognized pedagogical approaches including Montessori, Dalton, and Freinet, supplemented by integrated child care through Kindcentrum centers in partnership with Forte Kinderopvang and the Playing for Success after-school enrichment program.

Product overview

ISOB (Intergemeentelijke Stichting Openbaar Basisonderwijs) operates as a unified education foundation offering a network of 17 public primary schools across North- and Midden-Kennemerland. The organization provides multiple educational approaches including Montessori, Dalton, and Freinet methodologies through its various school brands. Supporting the core educational offering is the ISOB Academie for staff professional development, Forte Kinderopvang for childcare services, and Playing for Success as an after-school enrichment program. The schools collectively share the mission of 'Samen sterk in leren' (Strong together in learning) while maintaining distinct educational profiles and concepts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Forte Kinderopvang: Childcare facility operated in partnership with ISOB schools, focused on sustainable world and growth mindset for children.

Products and services

• ISOB Schools Network Network of 17-18 public primary schools (openbare basisscholen) operated by ISOB across North and Central Kennemerland, providing primary education to children ages 4-12 in municipalities including Castricum, Uitgeest, Heiloo, Bergen, Schoorl, Egmond, Akersloot, Limmen, De Rijp, Driehuizen, Stompetoren, and West-Graftdijk.
• Kindcentrum Montessori (OBS Montessori Castricum) Primary school in Castricum implementing Montessori educational methodology, where children develop independence and self-directed learning within ISOB's network.
• Kindcentrum De Wissel (Dalton onderwijs) Primary school in Uitgeest applying Dalton educational methodology, emphasizing student autonomy and self-directed learning within ISOB's network.
• Elckerlyc, basisschool voor freinetonderwijs Primary school in Heiloo implementing Freinet educational methodology, with ISOB managing the administrative school governance tasks on behalf of Stichting Freinet since 2007.
• Forte Kinderopvang Childcare service operated by ISOB under the Forte brand within Kindcentrum centers, positioning children as future builders with a focus on sustainable world awareness and growth mindset.
• Playing for Success After-school enrichment program located at the AFAS stadium in Alkmaar, helping children aged 9-14 improve language, numeracy, ICT, and socio-emotional development through a unique learning environment at a professional football stadium.
• ISOB Academie Internal professional development platform offering inspiring training programs and masterclasses to ISOB employees, including teacher coaching from start to basic-qualified teachers and professional learning networks.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Forte KinderopvangcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerForte Kinderopvang operates as child care partner within ISOB's Kindcentrum centers, providing integrated education and child care services. The partnership enables 'powered by' label initiative combining ISOB schools and Forte child care services.
• AZ (Football Club)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAZ football stadium in Alkmaar hosts Playing for Success after-school program. Children ages 9-14 work on language, math, ICT, and social-emotional development in the inspiring stadium environment.
• PPO-NK (Passend Primair Onderwijs Noord-Kennemerland)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational cooperation covering schools in Alkmaar, De Rijp, Heiloo, and Bergen municipalities. Supports children requiring additional educational support and coordinates between schools and care coordinators.
• Samenwerkingsverband Passend Onderwijs IJmondcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational cooperation covering schools in Castricum and Uitgeest municipalities. Provides support for children needing additional educational assistance.
• iPabo (teacher training)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerISOB collaborates with iPabo for teacher internships and training. Students can do internships at ISOB schools.
• InHolland (teacher training)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerISOB collaborates with InHolland for teacher internships and training. Students can do internships at ISOB schools.
• PO-RaadcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerISOB follows the Convenant Digitale Onderwijsmiddelen en Privacy as established by PO-Raad (Primary Education Council). Also adheres to Code Goed Bestuur in het primair onderwijs.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• PO-Raad: PO-Raad is the Dutch primary education sector council, which ISOB explicitly follows for the Convenant Digitale Onderwijsmiddelen en Privacy and the Code Goed Bestuur. It is relevant as a broad incumbent setting the regulatory and governance framework within which ISOB operates.
• INNOO (Innovatienetwerk Openbaar Onderwijs): INNOO is a Dutch collaborative network of public primary school foundations, broader in scope than ISOB but representing the same openbaar onderwijs model. It is relevant as a sector-wide incumbent reflecting the broader ecosystem in which ISOB operates.

Direct peers

• Stichting Agora: Agora is a Dutch regional school foundation operating public primary schools with diverse educational concepts in Limburg. It is directly comparable to ISOB in combining multiple methodologies under a single multi-school public primary stichting.
• Stichting Openbaar Onderwijs Amsterdam: OOA operates public primary schools across Amsterdam under a single foundation, serving a comparable role to ISOB in another urban Dutch region. It shares ISOB's mission of running 'openbaar' primary education and using multiple pedagogical approaches.
• Stichting BOOR: Stichting BOOR is a large Dutch foundation managing public primary schools in the Rotterdam region under a comparable multi-school governance structure. It is directly comparable to ISOB in being a public-benefit stichting executing primary education tasks on behalf of multiple municipalities.
• Stichting SPOH: Stichting Primair Onderwijs Haarlemmermeer (SPOH) is a regional public primary school foundation in North Holland, geographically and structurally similar to ISOB. It is directly comparable as a multi-school public primary stichting in the same province.
• Forte Kinderopvang: Forte Kinderopvang is ISOB's core child-care partner within the Kindcentrum model, operating integrated childcare alongside ISOB schools. It is directly comparable to ISOB's childcare-education integration strategy and the 'powered by' joint label.
• Stichting Openbaar Onderwijs Westelijke Tuinsteden (STWT): STWT is a Dutch public primary school foundation operating in Amsterdam's western districts, with a comparable governance and multi-school structure to ISOB. It is relevant as another example of a multi-municipality public primary education stichting.
• Stichting Openbaar Onderwijs Zwolle (OOZ): OOZ operates public primary schools in the Zwolle region under a comparable multi-municipality foundation model. It is directly comparable to ISOB in governance and operating model.

Others

• iPabo: iPabo is a Dutch teacher training institution (pabo) collaborating with ISOB for teacher internships. It is relevant as an upstream talent-pipeline partner feeding ISOB's schools and comparable to its other training partner InHolland.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/isobcastricum

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ISOB