A decline in the number of students in Haarlem forced Dunamare Onderwijsgroep to merge 3 different VMBO- schools into one, big VMBO-school. ‘Paulus Mavo’, ‘Sterren College’ and part of ‘Daaf Gelukschool were rolled into one super-school. Youngworks, a creative agency that focuses on young target audiences, was asked to create a name for the new VMBO-school. Luckily, this project ended up in my lap.
I put together 4 different categories for a new name:
1. A composite name made from a combination of letters or parts taken from the 3 names;
2. A fantasy name;
3. A descriptive name;
4. A name derived from its location or region.
I came up with countless new names per category. Ultimately, after a long and extensive consultation, the choice was made for: Spaarne College. Named after the eponymous river that runs through Haarlem to Spaarndam.
Spaarne College opened its doors the first of August, 2020. The relatively new facilities of the former ‘Sterren College’, located at the Badmintonweg in Haarlem, is now home to over 900 VMBO students.