Newsletter from the Principal, 2024

Dear Rijnlander,

It has been quite some time since a message from ‘the rector’ has appeared in this place. And certainly this particular principal has not posted a news release yet. So here we go!

For those who do not yet know me: my name is Erica van Langen and I have been the principal of the Rijnlands from January 2021. What a wonderful school I ended up at! I very much enjoy working here at the Rijnlands; I enjoy upholding old traditions, but I also want to create or revamp new ones. After all, traditions bind us together and that is what this Alumni site is aiming to do.

The least you can say is that the new school jacket has come about because of our logo. In the fall of 2021, we began exploring with students what a new logo for the Rijnlands might look like: what should stay and what should change. You have of course by now seen that the horse has stayed. For most Rijnlanders – and certainly the students – it was obvious that the horse really belongs to our school: proud and strong, those were the associations. And those with a much longer history with the Rijnlands also know, of course, that the horse – our steadfast steed – fits the original name of our school: Rijnlands Oegstgeester Scholengemeenschap, ROS.

New to our logo is the wavy river Rhine. A fresh blue replaced the frankly rather dull gray of the previous logo. And with that, red and blue have become the colours of our corporate identity. We hope this horse will adorn our building and all our displays for a long time to come. Perhaps the finest of these is the new Rijnlands hoodie. How popular it is! When the logo was launched, all students and staff received one of these hoodies, and ever since, they can be seen all around the school as well as outside. Every day you see students and colleagues wearing our hoodie. “It’s just so comfortable, ma’am!” Also, all the new students and colleagues are happy to receive one. That hoodie is here to stay!

Alumni can only be there when people leave the school: this goes for students and staff. For students, this is of course predictable. With staff, one never knows how long they will remain associated with the school. For the RLO, an amount of years in two digits is by no means unusual. Indeed, in the course of this school year 3 colleagues are celebrating 40 years of being a part of our community. In September it was Henriëtte Posthumus, ‘our’ Henriëtte from the administration office. In April it was Coby van Tongeren, for students the sweetest janitor and the one who makes the tastiest sandwiches. And at the end of the school year it is Sjaak Fonville, our beloved teacher of English. Coby and Sjaak are also saying goodbye to the RLO this year and are set to enjoy their retirement. We are certainly going to miss them!

At the end of the school year, we will let you know which other colleagues will leave us and become alumni. Besides Coby and Sjaak, more people will retire. And, naturally, another large number of successful students will be leaving. At the end of this week, the international students of the Class of 2024 finish their exams; the havo and vwo students start next Tuesday, May 14. In this case, the more new alumni the better!

Erica van Langen