ANDREW F.

David D

David completed his Specialized Honours Degree in Kinesiology and Health Sciences at York University in 2011. He then pursued his Bachelors of Education at York University in 2012. While at York, David competed on the Varsity Tennis Team and achieved 2 gold medals. He is currently qualified to teach the following subjects: All Primary and Junior subjects, Health and Physical Education, French, ESL, Special Education, Cooperative Education, Religion and Science. His additional qualification courses allow him to teach all the way from primary to the senior level (K – 12).

David is a passionate and devoted teacher who is a Specialist in Health and Physical Education. He is currently teaching Health and Physical Education with the Toronto Catholic District School Board. For the last 10 years, he has devoted his time to working with kids in summer camps, tutoring, and summer school programs within the TCDSB, TDSB, and various private schools. David has many years of experience working with kids who have behavioural challenges, are ESL, and children who have special needs. He has worked with kids who are autistic, non-verbal, ADHD and who possess other learning differences. He has been able to create lessons that meet the needs of all of his students and helps to make learning fun and practical. He is a true believer that all kids have a passion for learning!

David is a huge sports enthusiast and enjoys coaching. He has worked with many kids from beginner to collegiate level athletes in basketball, volleyball, soccer and tennis. David firmly believes that a healthy body allows for a healthy mind!

SHAHRAM A.

Shahram has been quite the globetrotter from an early age. He was born in Tehran, Iran; raised in Copenhagen, Denmark; socialized and educated in Toronto, Canada, which he now refers to as home. To date, Shahram has lived in 6 different countries (Denmark, Canada, Hong Kong, China, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates) and traveled to 62 others.  

Shahram received an Honours Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Sociology and also a Bachelor of Education from the University of Windsor. Additionally, he completed his Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and Management with a certificate in International Baccalaureate (IB) Administration from Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia. Prior to making the transition back to Canada, Shahram taught internationally at prestigious private schools for nearly a decade. These schools followed the Ontario, British Columbia and IB curricula and framework. 

As​ an extremely passionate educator, ​Shahram’s teaching experiences have helped him refine a personal teaching philosophy and pedagogy in education that combines the importance of inclusion within the classroom, ongoing feedback, respect, and creating meaningful student-centered lessons. Shahram’s defining characteristic as an educator revolves around the joy, pleasure and passion that ​he receives from teaching beyond the required curriculum. He branches off into various learning atmospheres by becoming actively involved in the development of the ​​whole child.​​ The ‘aha!’ moment in students and seeing everything begin to click for them provides him with an immense pleasure and continuously drives his passion and pedagogy as an educator. It is important to nurture a child’s creative abilities to develop a sense of themselves, understand others and the world around them, and navigate information so that they can confidently take risks and solve problems. ​Reflection​ and ​introspection​ are fundamental components of Shahram’s pedagogy and also his own personal growth and commitment to lifelong learning. 

NICHOLAS P.

Nicholas currently works in the clinical research world within the healthcare industry. He has grown up in Toronto completing a BSc in Biology, MA in Health Communications/Policy, and a PhD in Health Management. Aside from the healthcare industry, Nicholas has recent experience as a lecturer and grader for university courses.
Prior to all his professional endeavours and most importantly, he was a camp counsellor for the City of Toronto summer camps where he discovered his passion for working with children of all ages and diverse backgrounds. Nicholas has supported many groups of children throughout various City of Toronto programs; after school program, pottery instruction, as well as skating lesson instructor. As a mentor Nicholas continues to develop strategies for working with children and helping them achieve all their goals and more.

SAMANTHA T.

Samantha is completing her Bachelor of Secondary Education in English Literature at the University of Alberta. She enjoys sharing her love of literature and language arts with students and helping them develop skills and strategies to find success in their coursework. She currently works one-on-one with several junior high and high school students. Samantha helps her students break down essays and navigate through the writing process.  She also collaborates with students to create individualized writing strategy plans. When she’s not teaching, Samantha enjoys spending time in the outdoors or curled up with a book, a cat and a cup of tea.

STEVIE K.

Stevie has a multitude of academic knowledge in the fields of psychology and education. She has recently graduated from the University of Toronto with a Masters in Education, specializing in Developmental Psychology. She has extensive experience offering one-on-one remedial therapy to kids with learning, cognitive, and emotional difficulties, and supported them in improving and refining their reading, writing, vocabulary, and math skills. This helped her foster a love for teaching and guiding children and adolescents to bettering their education and themselves. Moreover, she has comprehensive experience helping students organize their thoughts, and plan for their academic futures. Stevie believes that building a strong relationship with her students allows her to better understand and meet their learning needs, as well as understand how they process information. She has always had a passion for working with children, and this passion will only grow stronger through you being apart of her Prep Academy tutoring experience!

SIMON M.

Simon has a Masters Degree in Education focused on Curriculum and ESL from Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia. After volunteering as an ESL and ECE teacher, Simon gained a passion for supporting families new to Canada – particularly as they transition between different international school systems.

Simon focuses on grammar as the foundation of reading and writing. By zooming-in on sentences and zooming-out to see the connected meanings needed to complete complex assignments, Simon helps students improve basic grammar, plan clear writing, and understand exam questions under pressure.

With extensive experience working in international and ecological education in rural and urban areas, as well as with students who have a first language other than English, Simon also researches best practices in language education methods to support all types of learners.

Simon grew up in Brockville, Ontario, and attended MSVU and Saint Mary’s University in Halifax Nova Scotia. He has 12 years experience as an educator and holds TESL Canada Level 3 and CELTA teaching certificates. In his free time, he likes to cycle, snowboard, and read.

JYNESSA M.

Jynessa has a Honours BA from the University of Toronto in French Language Learning, English Literature, and Women & Gender Studies. She has experience in tutoring, teaching assisting, corporate training & development, social media marketing, and non-profit arts and publishing. She recently completed her MA in Women & Gender Studies at U of T, where she was a TA for undergraduate students. She can tutor primary and intermediate students in French and English, as well as senior students in Core French, English, and other humanities and social sciences subjects.

AMY F.

Amy received her Master’s degree in Astronomy from Western University, where she studied fluorescent dust in nebulae, after completing a B.Sc. in Integrated Science with a minor in Physics at McMaster University. Her teaching experience includes two years as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Western University, where she led tutorials and laboratory sessions for undergraduate Physics courses, six years of one-on-one private tutoring in Math and Science topics, and the operation of several educational summer programs for elementary and high school students.

SAFIYA M.

Safiya is a certified member of the Ontario College of Teachers and has a B.Ed from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE-UofT). She also completed her undergrad at UofT where she specialized in French: Teaching French as a Second Language. Following graduation, Safiya spent three years in Switzerland playing hockey semi-professionally, working with young Swiss children, in their homes, teaching them French and English through every day activities and excursions.

Returning to Canada, Safiya volunteered with Big Brothers/Big Sisters with the same young girl for four years while working at Porter Airlines as a French-qualified Flight Attendant. Today, Safiya works as a manager at Porter in Operations/Crewing, where she continues to use French for business relations or facilitation. Never letting go of her passion for hockey and mentoring, Safiya also coaches part-time with the UofT Women’s Hockey Team, reliving her glory days from when she played on the team during undergrad. Her enthusiasm, warmth, patience and dedication to young people and their success is what makes working with Safiya an exceptional and rewarding experience.