What SARO - Samen Ambitieus Rotterdams Onderwijs does

SARO - Samen Ambitieus Rotterdams Onderwijs (Stichting SARO) is a Dutch educational foundation headquartered in Rotterdam, formed on January 1, 2024 through the merger of Kind en Onderwijs Rotterdam (primary education) and LMC Voortgezet Onderwijs (secondary education). It operates 52 primary and secondary schools organized into five regional clusters, serving approximately 16,500-17,000 students aged 0-18 with a workforce of around 2,400 employees. The organization delivers continuous educational pathways spanning childcare, primary education (PO), and secondary education (VO), including specialized offerings such as gifted education (Quadratum, De Stelberg, De Stern), language education for newcomers (Taalschool Rotterdam), support for homebound students (SARO Kompas), and planned bilingual International Baccalaureate programs launching in 2026.

SARO is funded primarily through Dutch government per-pupil allocations under the bekostiging system, with no tuition charged to families for core services. Revenue is augmented by minor ancillary fees for services such as extended day care. The organization is accredited as an opleidingsschool (training school) in partnership with Hogeschool Inholland, BROS, and OSR, and operates SARO Academie for continuous professional development. SARO holds ANBI (public benefit organization) status and is governed by a College van Bestuur chaired by Lorenzo Civile, with a Raad van Toezicht chaired by Liesbeth van Laak.

The technology stack consists of standard educational administration tools, including Magister for student information management, Microsoft SharePoint for intranet, Afas Insite for HR, and Outlook for productivity. Distribution is regional and direct-to-family through school enrollment, information evenings, the SARO Ontdekdag discovery event, and the schoolvinden.nu school finder platform. SARO's GTM combines direct consumer enrollment with event-driven community engagement and employer-branding activities aimed at lateral-entry teacher recruitment.

Name

SARO - Samen Ambitieus Rotterdams Onderwijs

Legal name

Stichting SARO (Samen Ambitieus Rotterdams Onderwijs)

Website

https://wijzijnsaro.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

SARO is a Dutch educational foundation operating 52 primary and secondary schools across Rotterdam, serving approximately 17,000 students aged 0-18 with around 2,400 staff. It delivers continuous educational pathways, including specialized gifted, language, and planned bilingual IB programs, funded primarily by Dutch government per-pupil allocations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Education Services

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (611110), Elementary and Secondary Schools (61111), Other Schools and Instruction (6116), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public K–12 Combined Schools (EDAJAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

International/Global Curriculum Schools (IB, Cambridge, etc.) (EDAJABAG)

Keywords

• Primary education services
• Secondary education services
• K-12 school network
• Public education foundation
• School group administration

Headquarters

HQ city

Rotterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Government-funded education: As a public educational foundation in the Netherlands, SARO is primarily funded through government educational funding. Schools receive per-pupil funding from the Dutch government based on enrollment numbers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

SARO operates 52 primary and secondary schools in Rotterdam, delivering publicly funded K-12 education to approximately 16,500–17,000 students with a workforce of more than 2,400 employees. The foundation was formed in January 2024 through a merger to consolidate Rotterdam public education under one organizational umbrella, providing both primary (PO) and secondary (VO) education services free of charge to families.

Product overview

SARO (Samen Ambitieus Rotterdams Onderwijs) is an educational foundation operating 52 primary (PO) and secondary (VO) schools in Rotterdam, serving approximately 16,500 students and 2,400 staff. The organization offers a unified platform of educational services spanning primary education (ages 0-12), secondary education (ages 12-18), specialized gifted education programs (Quadratum, De Stelberg, De Stern), language education (Taalschool Rotterdam), and specialized care/support (Eenheid Zorg with OPDC). The portfolio includes planned bilingual IB programs launching in 2026 and temporary interventions like SARO Kompas for homebound students. All schools operate within five collaborative PO-VO clusters, supported by the SARO Academie for professional development and coordinated through Magister administration systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SARO Kompas: A temporary educational facility for students who are at home (thuiszitters), providing temporary customized education to help them return to school.
• SARO Academie

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% pass rate on 2025 exams for six SARO schools
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Kinder Service HotelscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 July 2026Partnership signed July 7, 2026 between SARO (represented by Vice CvB Jasmijn Kester) and Kinder Service Hotels (director Niels Kooijman) to better align education and childcare for children 0-13 years. Professionals from both organizations will collaborate more intensively, share knowledge, and learn together to strengthen quality of education and care. This partnership supports a continuous development pathway for children from birth.
• Hogeschool InhollandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClose collaboration with Hogeschool Inholland for teacher training programs. SARO is a training school (opleidingsschool) in partnership with the pabo of Hogeschool Inholland. Students can pursue part-time pabo education or lateral entry (zij-instroom) trajectory through this partnership.
• Brede Opleidingsschool Rotterdam (BROS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBROS partnership ensures combined training and professional development of new primary school teachers. All SARO primary schools are training schools with practical guidance from practice supervisors and school trainers.
• Opleidingsschool Rotterdam (OSR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSARO is affiliated with OSR for secondary education. All SARO VO schools are training schools with guidance from workplace coaches, teacher coaches, and school trainers for student teachers pursuing first or second-degree teaching qualifications.
• Gemeente Rotterdam (Municipality of Rotterdam)coreOthersCollaboration with the municipality for new school buildings and educational initiatives. The municipality transferred the MOVE Rotterdam building to SARO and is developing new school facilities in areas like Nieuw Kralingen.
• Campus NederlandminorOthersCampus Nederland assisted with organizing the SARO Dag van de Leerlingenraden 2025, providing organization and guidance for the student council day.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Stichting Unicoz: School foundation running primary and secondary schools in the Zoetermeer region, similar to SARO in offering a multi-site network of public schools under unified governance.
• Stichting ZAAM: Zuidelijke Amsterdamse Montessori en Algemeen Middelbaar Onderwijs is a comparable Dutch multi-school foundation running multiple primary and secondary schools under one board with mixed educational profiles.
• Stichting Lucas Onderwijs: A large Dutch primary education foundation operating schools across multiple regions under a single board, comparable to SARO in scale and in providing continuous educational pathways.
• Stichting Penta: Dutch school foundation operating secondary schools in the Rotterdam region, overlapping with SARO's VO schools and competing for the same student population and teaching talent.
• Stichting BOOR: Bestuur Openbaar Onderwijs Rotterdam is the other large public school foundation operating primary and secondary schools in Rotterdam, directly competing with SARO for students, teachers and municipal collaboration.
• Stichting Innoforte: Regional Dutch school foundation operating multiple primary and secondary schools with cluster-based collaboration, structurally similar to SARO's cluster model.
• Stichting Het Groene Hart: Dutch school foundation combining primary and secondary education across the Groene Hart region, comparable to SARO's mixed PO-VO cluster model and multi-school board governance.
• Stichting Mendelcollege: Dutch secondary school foundation in the Rotterdam area providing havo/vwo education, comparable to SARO's VO offerings and serving overlapping demographics.

Broad incumbents

• Stichting Carmelcollege: One of the largest Catholic secondary education organizations in the Netherlands with dozens of secondary schools, comparable to SARO in scale but focused mainly on VO rather than combined PO-VO.

Others

• Gemeente Rotterdam - Dienst Onderwijs: Municipality of Rotterdam's education department oversees public education policy, building provisioning and zoning decisions that materially affect SARO's footprint expansion and regulatory environment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@stichtingsaro
• Facebookfacebook.com/stichtingSARO
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stichtingsaro
• Instagraminstagram.com/stichtingsaro

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries15 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 SARO - Samen Ambitieus Rotterdams Onderwijs