Caroline Tesei ’25 attended Windward from grades 7–9 at the Westchester Middle School. Caroline recalls, “Prior to Windward, I had a hard time feeling different than everyone else and I felt alone. Windward gave me a lot of resources and I felt supported. I actually began to feel smart. That’s the first time I began to feel like I could actually learn.”
After Windward, she attended The Landmark School in Beverly, Massachusetts and graduated in 2025. She is now a sophomore at the College of the Holy Cross, where she is majoring in English and is on the pre-law track.
Caroline is extremely grateful for her educational experiences at Windward and beyond. As a result, she has decided to dedicate her time advocating for students with language-based learning disabilities, as it is important to her that they have access to the same education she received.
At Holy Cross, Caroline is the co-chapter leader of the Neurodiversity Alliance, an Eye-to-Eye mentor, a peer mentor at D.R.E.A.M. (Disability, Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring) and is part of the Young Adult Leadership Council under the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD).
This past June, Caroline traveled to Washington D.C. with the NCLD and met with the staff of Senator Blumenthal, Senator Chris Murphy, and Congressman Jim Himes to discuss and advocate for legislation and policies that support students and young adults with learning disabilities.
Caroline stated, “Education is really important. It’s the foundation for society and just because you learn differently or have a learning disability doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to reach your full potential or have access to the resources to do that.”
Caroline hopes to become a lawyer where she can turn her passion for advocacy into a career. We are so proud of Caroline for being a Windward Advocate and all she does to support students with language-based learning disabilities.
