The 2026 OUR KIDS Private School Expo is coming to cities near you. Get your family pass
Leadership interview with Dr. Cinde Locke, Pickering College
- Name
Dr. Cinde Locke - Title
Head of School
Dr. Cinde Locke, Head of School at Pickering College, shared her perspective on the school's rich history, strong values, close-knit community, progressive approach to education, and commitment to student growth. She reflected on how Pickering College combines academic excellence with experiential learning, leadership opportunities, and meaningful partnerships to help students develop a strong sense of self, discover their passions, and prepare to make a positive impact on the world.
Video Contents
- 0:59 - Please describe your professional journey leading up to your current role at Pickering College.
- 1:44 - What have been some of the major influences on you and how you approach your work?
- 2:43 - What resonates most strongly with you about the history and mission of your school?
- Show Full Video Contents
Highlights from the interview
One of the things that's really special about the school is that it was established in 1842. So, it has this long, rich history and sense of tradition, and that grounds us. It grounds us with our values, our beliefs, and our identity.
- Our mission is to instill the ability and the responsibility in young people to make the world greater, better, and more beautiful than they discovered it.
Our mission is to instill the ability and the responsibility in young people to make the world greater, better, and more beautiful than they discovered it.
The most common thing that happens when a new family comes to the school is that they fall in love with the school within the first five minutes of being here. There's a feeling of family, community, and belonging.
There's a phrase that we use called "The people are Pickering." We often say it within our community, and we hear it beyond our community. It's pervasive and really lovely.
We were very fortunate to be gifted the Blue and Silver Farm, a 77-acre farm that's about a five-minute drive from the main campus. We've been developing a full K-to-2 program for students that involves leadership aspects, outdoor education, and opportunities to work in the greenhouse or in the fields or work with robotics as it's integrated into plants.
We work with local beekeepers and produce our own honey, Pickering College honey. We tap maple trees- all of the things that are incredible that we get to do at the farm. And we have much more to develop there programmatically.
It's been an incredible journey, and we have over 120 partnerships at the school for students to be involved in. It is absolutely an incredible program as a result of the work that the teachers have done to make all of this come alive.
We'll continue to push the envelope on progressive education and help students build those skills that they need to have every door open to them in the world.
We have over 95% of our students who are Ontario Scholars. We have incredible opportunities for students at university, with scholarships to the best universities in the world and the best programs.
We want them to see beyond the journey of next steps to university and see themselves as really having a sense of self and a sense of passion to do something meaningful. Their immediate pathway will lead to that, but we want them to see beyond it.
The most important decision that a parent will ever make in their life, I believe, is how to educate their child and where to educate their child. We take that responsibility really seriously. The parents have entrusted their child to our hands to make sure that they have the best educational experience possible.
At the end of the day, you want to make sure that all the things are in place for strong academics, strong support, a strong community, and a sense of belonging.
Pickering College is a really special place, and I feel very privileged to be the Head of School here and to be a part of such a warm, welcoming community and such a forward-thinking environment.
