The European School, Bergen (in Dutch: ''Europese School Bergen,'' in French: ''École Européenne de Bergen,'' in German: ''Europäische Schule Bergen'') (or ''ESB'') is one of the thirteen

European School A European School () is a type of international school emphasising a multilingual and multicultural pedagogical approach to the teaching of nursery, primary and secondary students, leading to the European Baccalaureate as their secondary lea ...

s. It is located in the town of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

in the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

province of

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

. The school prioritises, for enrolment purposes, the children of

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

staff. Students must enrol in either the English, French or Dutch language sections of the school.

History

The European School, Bergen was established in 1963 primarily to provide an education to the children of staff employed by the European Atomic Energy Community's (Euratom) nuclear research facility in nearby

Petten Petten is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Schagen, and lies about 15 km northwest of Alkmaar, on the North Sea. The population is ca. 1900. Petten's economy is based on agricu ...

- today under the remit of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

Joint Research Centre The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission's science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to European Union (EU) policy. Leadersh ...

EMA relocation

In 2019, enrolment in the school increased by 20% as a result of the relocation of the

European Medicines Agency The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of pharmaceutical products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products ...

(EMA), its staff and their families to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, as part of arrangements for the

UK's withdrawal from the European Union Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET). The UK, which joined th ...

. This increased the daily number of students commuting from Amsterdam to the school to 20% of total enrolment. As a result, the Dutch education ministry announced in late 2019 that it was investigating relocating the school to a new campus in 4 or 5 years time, with the municipalities of

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...

Castricum Castricum () is a municipality and a town in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. Castricum is a seaside town in the province of North Holland. It attracts tourists who come mainly to visit the beach and nearby dune landscape. Lake ...

and

Zaanstad Zaanstad () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, Dutch municipality in the province of North Holland, situated northwest of Amsterdam. Its main city is Zaandam. It is part of the conurbation and Amsterdam metropolitan area, metropolitan area of ...

expressing interest in hosting the school. Eventually Zaanstad and Alkmaar filed motions to apply for this right. On July 9, 2021, the decision was made to move the school to

References

{{European Schools Bergen, North Holland International schools in the Netherlands

Educational institutions established in 1963 1963 establishments in the Netherlands

History

EMA relocation

See also

References