Kathryn Sykes on the Importance of Taking on Challenges

Old School, New School deconstructs success stories through the lens of education. In this episode, we talk to Kathryn Sykes about going from being the type of person who avoids hard things to being the type of person who seeks them out.

Kathryn Sykes is the co-founder and Executive Director of Claren Academy, an independent K-7 school in Vancouver, British Columbia. Kathryn is a Registered Social Worker with over 20 years of experience in non-profit organizations. She is one of the founders of Claren Academy and is an active presence in all areas of the school - except the actual teaching. Kathryn is the chair of the board of directors, as well as part of the administrative team, working closely with the Principal and the Director of Admissions. In her spare time, she reads books, enjoys live music, and gets asked a lot about why she started a school. 

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www.clarenacademy.org

This podcast delves into pedagogy, leadership, and teaching best practices, as well as entrepreneurship, career development, and post-secondary education. Listeners will be interested to see how many different social, psychological, and environmental factors come into play when we analyze our school experiences. Whether you’re interested in teaching, education policy, parenting, or self-improvement, this podcast has a little of everything. 

Claren Academy’s leadership is constantly fielding questions about why they created a new school. We hope that this podcast will shine a light on factors that help us reexamine old schools and what it means to deliver a future-ready education.