News Clippings May 28 – June 4, 2013 Produced by the Communications & Community Relations Department 14-year-old heading to McMaster University in fall Page 1 of 2 News / GTA 14-year-old heading to McMaster University in fall Mississauga’s Alexandre D’Souza, not long arrived from India, double biological- and chemical- engineering degree. BETSY POWELL / TORONTO STAR 14 year old Alexandre D'Souza is going to McMaster University in the fall. By:Betsy PowellCity Courts reporter,Patty Winsa Staff Reporters Published on Tue Jun 04 2013 Alexandre D’Souza, like other high school students across the GTA, is gearing up for his prom and graduation ceremony and spending the summer excited about embarking on his post-secondary education. But unlike most who are university-bound, D’Souza will be just 14 when he starts a double biological- and chemical-engineering degree this fall at McMaster University in Hamilton. The school’s admissions department does not collect information of its first-year entrants by age so it is unable to say whether D’Souza is the youngest student ever admitted to the university. However, Art Heidebrecht, McMaster’s acting dean of engineering, says he can’t recall an admission of someone that young in the nearly 50 years he’s been at the school. “It's very rare,” Heidebrecht told the Star. The engineering program typically receives more than 3,000 applicants. “The fact that he knows which program he wants to go into, he’s obviously very motivated . I doubt he’ll have any difficulty.” D’Souza — tall, polite and friendly — shrugs off his youthfulness and plays down his academic record. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/06/04/14yearold_heading_to_mcmaster_university_i... 6/4/2013 14-year-old heading to McMaster University in fall Page 2 of 2 “I don’t really like being judged by people by my age,” he says Monday evening sitting in the living room of his family’s Mississauga home. “I’ve always been younger and had no problem socially.” McMaster was his first choice and he was thrilled to accept the offer when it came in February. Proud father Alfredo explains the family moved to Canada from India last year. Daughters Annalise, 23, Alexia, 21, are also high academic achievers pursuing post graduate and a double math/business degree respectively. Their little brother “was always a star student,” says Alfredo, who works in business development. Prior to coming to Canada, D’Souza studied in Bahrain, Singapore and Mumbai, India, where he completed Grade 10 with distinction in all subjects. When he was nine-year-old schoolboy in Bahrain, D’Souza scored the highest marks worldwide in English and mathematics in an international exam. D’Souza’s mother, Neomi, recalls her infant son sitting in front of the computer in diapers. “We just couldn’t get him off it,” she says. He spent hours “self-learning,” using online education programs and playing Battle Chess, a videogame version of chess. “He soaked in the information.” Before starting school — which he did before his third birthday — D’Souza taught himself Arabic numbers walking around a complex in Singapore with a housemaid “just by looking at English.” He piled up academic awards and stellar report cards, now bound together in a large blue binder. Last year, D’Souza amassed seven A-pluses and two As, the latter in chemistry and economics, “a subject I’d never done before,” the teenager notes almost ruefully. But this prodigy also makes time for fun, when he’s not tutoring math to other students at St. Marcellinus Secondary School. He loves playing soccer, video games and piano. Ideally, he would live at home rather than in residence — both for financial reasons and because of his age — but the family is confident he’ll be in a safe and secure environment after meeting with McMaster housing officials. “They suggested a smaller, quieter residence,” says his dad. Heidebrecht says there will be many challenges for a student this young. “The individual — being not only bright and already coping with high school — has obviously faced some challenges in social relationships and so forth. I’m sure he’s quite capable of handling himself. However, we pay a lot of attention to students who come in unusual situations.” D’Souza is not sure what he intends to do after he graduates — which could be when he is 18, typically the age students start post-secondary education in Ontario. “Maybe medical research, I’m not 100 per cent sure,” he says. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/06/04/14yearold_heading_to_mcmaster_university_i... 6/4/2013 Not all kindergarten kids will meet Grade 3 standards, says EQAO study Page 1 of 1 TORONTO — A new study suggests up to third of Ontario’s kindergarten students may fail to meet provincial standards in reading, writing and math by Grade 3. The study by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) looked at the early progress of over 72,000 English- language students in the province. It says 29 per cent of students were deemed by their teachers to be "vulnerable" or "at risk" in their language and cognitive development. Those students were much less likely to meet the standards by the end of Grade 3 than those deemed "ready" or "very ready." When it comes to reading, only 30 per cent of Grade 3 students rated by their kindergarten teachers as "vulnerable" met the standard for reading in Grade 3. Forty-nine per cent of those rated "at risk" met the reading standard in Grade 3. By comparison, 68 per cent of students rated "ready" and 82 per cent rated "very ready" in kindergarten met the provincial reading standard in Grade 3. The study says the findings illustrate how significant early development is on student learning. "Overall, Ontario's school system is doing well at bringing most students up to the expected standards for literacy and math after just a few years of schooling,‘‘ said EQAO executive officer Marguerite Jackson. "This research shows us that indicators of early childhood development are an important piece of information that both parents and educators should pay attention to as they work together to support the progress of each child." http://www.mississauga.com/news-story/3254349-not-all-kindergarten-kids-will-meet-grade... 6/4/2013 14-year-old St. Marcellinus Secondary School student Alexandre D'Souza heading off to ... Page 1 of 1 MISSISSAUGA — St. Marcellinus Secondary School student Alexandre D'Souza, like other high schoolers across the GTA, is gearing up for his prom and graduation ceremony and spending the summer excited about embarking on his post-secondary education. But unlike most who are university-bound, D'Souza will be just 14 when he starts a double biological- and chemical-engineering degree this fall at McMaster University in Hamilton. The school's admissions department does not collect information of its first-year entrants by age so it is unable to say whether D'Souza is the youngest student ever admitted to the university. However, Art Heidebrecht, McMaster's acting dean of engineering, says he can't recall an admission of someone that young in the nearly 50 years he's been at the school. "It's very rare," Heidebrecht said. The engineering program typically receives more than 3,000 applicants. "The fact that he knows which program he wants to go into, he's obviously very motivated. I doubt he'll have any difficulty." D'Souza — tall, polite and friendly — shrugs off his youthfulness and plays down his academic record. "I don't really like being judged by people by my age, " he said last night while sitting in the living room of his family's Mississauga home. "I've always been younger and had no problem socially." McMaster was his first choice and he was thrilled to accept the offer when it came in February. Proud father Alfredo explains the family moved to Canada from India last year. Daughters Annalise, 23, Alexia, 21, are also high academic achievers pursuing post-graduate and a double math/business degree respectively. Their little brother "was always a star student, " says Alfredo, who works in business development. Prior to coming to Canada, D'Souza studied in Bahrain, Singapore and Mumbai, India, where he completed Grade 10 with distinction in all subjects. When he was a 9-year-old schoolboy in Bahrain, D'Souza scored the highest marks worldwide in English and mathematics in an international exam. D'Souza's mother, Neomi, recalls her infant son sitting in front of the computer in diapers. "We just couldn't get him off it," she says. He spent hours "self-learning," using online education programs and playing Battle Chess, a videogame version of chess. "He soaked in the information." Before starting school — which he did before his third birthday — D'Souza taught himself Arabic numbers walking around a complex in Bahrain with a housemaid "just by looking at English." He piled up academic awards and stellar report cards, now bound together in a large blue binder. Last year, D'Souza amassed seven A-pluses and two As, the latter in chemistry and economics, "a subject I'd never done before, " the teenager notes almost ruefully. But this prodigy also makes time for fun, when he's not tutoring math to other students at St. Marcellinus. He loves playing soccer, video games and piano. Ideally, he would live at home rather than in residence — both for financial reasons and because of his age — but the family is confident he'll be in a safe and secure environment after meeting with McMaster housing officials.