Inspire. Innovate. Invest.

At Pickering College, our strategy is the blueprint that enables us to live and breathe our mission—to instil in each individual the ability and responsibility to make the world greater, better, and more beautiful. We do this through three interconnected pillars: inspire, innovate, and invest.

The 'Inspire' pillar guides students to lead meaningful lives, connect with the world, and engage with community partners; the 'Innovate' pillar empowers students as change agents, leverages technology to spark action, and unleashes every child's limitless potential; and the 'Invest' pillar focuses on creating inspiring learning spaces, designing purposeful auxiliary programming, and engaging with donors who share our vision and passion.

Our Quaker Values

Pickering College was founded by the Religious Society of Friends, known as Quakers, in 1842. We remain the only Quaker-founded school in Canada and the influence of their guiding values is immense. Quaker values—referred to as the SPICES—permeate the education and atmosphere at Pickering College. These values are taught, modeled, and lived by both students and teachers.

Simplicity guides students and staff to focus on fewer ideas or materials, to explore key concepts more deeply and fully, to set priorities, and to prefer clarity over clutter. 

Peace is the ongoing endeavour to see the good in each person and to approach conflict with this mindset at the forefront. Students learn that to promote peace in the wider world, we must first nurture it from within.

Integrity means being authentic and keeping consistency between one’s values and one’s actions. We are also open to new ideas, new solutions, and new paths.

Community building centres on simple gestures of kindness, warmth and inclusion; it is gathering interconnected individuals whose collective actions create a sense of belonging and encourage participation, so we accept and take care of one another.

Equality is essential, yet different than sameness. Equality asks that we give and receive the same respect, kindness and care for one another. 

Stewardship means taking care of what has been given, not just for our own use but for people around us and for future generations. We should be active stewards of things, of ourselves, of each other, and of ideas and ideals.