SUCCESS STORIES
Jason was recommended to us by a dear friend. We were looking for an tutor for our 12 year old son applying to private schools. Jason, and his colleague Tom, met with him, two or three times a week, for 4 months. They were able to see what his strengths were immediately and therefore able to concentrate on the things that needed work in a short amount of time. Jason and Tom were focused, thoughtful and so supportive throughout the whole process. Together they worked hard and our son’s scores improved greatly. We have three young children who have many more academic hurdles to pass and we will definitely work with Jason and Tom again. We recommend them highly.
PARENT OF STUDENT 1 YEAR
JASON WINTER
founder and director
Jason is the founder and director of the Winter Learning Group. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2009 with a dual degree in History and Political Science. He has been tutoring full-time in New York City for fourteen years, and has personally worked one-on-one with over 500 students, overseeing the test prep and application process of hundreds more. He has extensive experience preparing students for the SAT and ACT tests, consulting on college essays and applications, and helping students and families navigate the college process. He also works closely with students who have different learning styles or struggle with executive function. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, traveling, reading fiction, and trying new restaurants.
Subjects Tutored: SAT, ACT, College Application Essays
THOMAS HOOKER
director
Tom is an advanced PhD candidate studying Russian and Soviet History at Harvard University, completing his dissertation in New York City. He has taught numerous undergraduate courses while at Harvard, winning teaching awards each semester. He is also currently serving as the lead Departmental Teaching Fellow in Harvard’s History Department. He has experience tutoring SATs, New York Regents exams, AP exams, and high school math. Tom graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in History and is an avid golfer and a passionate college football fan.
Subjects Tutored: SAT, ACT, AP US History, Calculus
Jon Agins
test prep and humanities
Jon has a PhD in German Literature and Critical Thought from Northwestern University, where he completed his dissertation on Robert Musil’s The Man Without Qualities. He graduated from Stanford University in 2009 with a BA in German Studies and a minor in Philosophy, after attending the Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn. At Northwestern, he taught a variety of undergraduate classes, including philosophy, literature, history, and German language courses. He has been working as a tutor in New York for the past six years, focusing on both standardized tests and schoolwork with middle and high school students. He has experience tutoring the ACT, SAT, ISEE, SSAT, and SHSAT as well as a broad range of academic subjects—including English, History, Math, Science, and Spanish. In his free time, Jon enjoys exploring the city, spending time with friends, reading, and traveling.
Subjects Tutored: SAT, ACT, ISEE, SSAT, English, History, Math, and Spanish
Adrian Fadil
test prep and executive function
Adrian graduated with honors from Davidson College in English Literature. He speaks four languages and holds a certificate in business with high honors from Harvard Business School. He has worked as a writer and journalist in the Middle East and led a reforestation pilot project in the West Bank that involved the collaboration of NGOs, governmental agencies, and an international start-up. Stateside he has tutored students of all ages in the SAT, ACT, ISEE, mathematics, physics, critical reading, writing, and ESL skills. He has worked at the Winter Learning Group for 5 years, primarily focusing on test prep, academic support, and executive function. Currently, he is completing a historical novel based in the Middle East. He will be returning to school for a Masters in international studies at Georgetown in the fall, but plans to continue teaching remotely while he pursues his degree.
Subjects Tutored: SAT, ACT, Executive Function, College Essays
Marjorie DeWitt
test prep and humanities
Marjorie graduated from Yale University with a BA in English Language and Literature, and significant coursework in biology, chemistry, psychology, and gender studies. After graduating, she was an alumni interviewer for the Yale Admissions Office before participating in the publishing program at the Columbia Journalism School, which set her off into the world of book publishing. She worked for over a decade as a managing and developmental editor of critically acclaimed literary fiction and best-selling nonfiction. She transitioned into tutoring full-time in 2022 and is passionate about mentorship and helping others solve tough problems, whether they be college applications, difficult essay topics, tricky math problems, and everything in between. In her free time, Marjorie is an avid traveler and has so far been to 14 countries; she also loves comedy shows and belting ballads at Karaoke.
Subjects Tutored: SAT, ACT, English, History, Math, ISEE, SSAT
Sachin Suresh
test prep
An expert in the SAT and ACT, Sachin has taught over a thousand students in his decade of experience as a standardized test-prep and academic support tutor. A UCLA graduate with a degree in neuroscience, Sachin works with students to teach them both fundamental skills in reading, math and critical thinking as well as effective test-taking strategies. He also has extensive experience as a tutor in middle school and high school Math and Science. In his free time, Sachin enjoys fiction, crossword puzzles and boxing.
Subjects tutored: SAT, ACT, Math, Science
Michelle Miller
science and math
Michelle is a PhD student in Computational Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. Prior to pursuing her PhD, she got her bachelors in Astrophysics from Brown University and Masters in Beam and Accelerator Physics from the US Particle Accelerator School – Indiana University. She did this while working as a theoretical neuroscience researcher in the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University. Michelle is passionate about all STEM topics and loves sharing that passion with her students. She takes a personalized approach to each student based on their interests and needs, whether they want to explore a topic of their own interest or they need to prepare for an upcoming exam. She enjoys building a one-on-one rapport with each student and fostering that relationship across the student’s academic career. This often includes exposing the student to subfields that they may not have known existed but help enliven their own passions and confidence.
Subjects tutored: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science
David Berger
math and science
David has a B.S. in Mathematics from Villanova University, which he attended on full academic scholarship. There he was invited to participate in the Interdisciplinary Scholars Program in Humanities at the Honors College. He was able to test out of Science, having received perfect scores in AP Physics C and AP Chem. In his freshman year, he started to work as a private tutor; he has worked with the Winter Learning Group as a Math tutor and SAT/ACT Math instructor for the last 5 years. He also spent two years as a full-time classroom teacher in HS Math and Computer Science. In addition to tutoring, David does consulting work and coding for the web, as well as data and statistical analysis. He is highly passionate about vocal music, having been president of a men’s choir, musical director for an acapella group, and founder and director of an auditioned choir.
Subjects tutored: Math, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Programming
Christina Gilligan
test prep and humanities
Christina Gilligan is a PhD student in English Literature at Brown University, where she specializes in the Victorian novel. As a graduate student, Christina teaches both composition and literature courses for undergraduates. Prior to beginning her PhD, Christina worked as a lawyer in New York City. Christina graduated with honors from Harvard Law School in 2014 and received her B.S. in Business Economics and her B.A. in English Literature from Indiana University in 2011. In her free time, she enjoys running, trying new restaurants, and reading non-Victorian novels.
Subjects Tutored: SAT, ACT, LSAT, GRE, English, History
Betsy Schwartz
business and economics
Betsy is the Director of Finance and Operations for the Winter Learning Group and a licensed, active CPA in New York state. She graduated from The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business in 2011 with a B.S. in Accounting and a minor in French Language. During her time at Ohio State, she served as a peer tutor and teaching assistant and spent a semester studying abroad in Paris, with a focus in Business French. Betsy started her career in public accounting at Ernst & Young, with a focus in luxury retail and consumer products. She later moved to private industry, where she most recently served as the Head of Financial Planning & Analysis at Salvatore Ferragamo. In her spare time, she serves as a finance consultant for small businesses and non-profit organizations and she enjoys traveling, skiing, hiking, reading, visiting museums and attending dance performances.
Subjects Tutored: Accounting, Finance, Economics, Microsoft Excel
Jonathan Kent
test prep
Jonathan has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Philadelphia University, where he began tutoring high school students as undergraduate, and a Masters in Sport Management from Minnesota State. After working in the college sports world for a few years, he realized that teaching was his true passion, so he returned to his tutoring roots. While his favorite section to teach is SAT math, Jonathan loves the challenge of teaching test prep and high school math to students of all levels. He’s big on the idea of practice and repetition to engrain key concepts and make them as automatic as possible. When not working with students, you can find him watching hockey, studying random word lists, and playing Scrabble competitively.
Subjects Tutored: SAT, ACT
Emily Simon
humanities
Emily Simon is a PhD candidate in English at Brown University, where she studies contemporary American and Canadian poetry and theory. Throughout her time in the program, she has taught high schoolers through Brown’s summer program and has designed and taught both composition and literature elective courses for undergraduates. After graduating from Boston College with a B.A. in English and a minor in philosophy, Emily worked for an academic publishing company in Boston. With a strong background in reading and writing, she looks forward to helping students find their voice in the classroom and to approach their schoolwork feeling comfortable and confident. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, practicing yoga, attending poetry readings, and visiting art museums.
Subjects Tutored: English, History, College Essays, General Homework Help
Caroline Broude
science
Caroline received a B.A. with Highest Honors in Chemistry from Williams College and was selected as an associate member of Sigma Xi, the national research honors society. Both her on and off-campus research work been included in a total of three papers that were published in national academic and medical publications. In addition, Caroline’s senior thesis work was accepted at American Chemical Society’s 2023 fall and spring national conferences. Her focus during undergraduate study was in polymer chemistry—concentrating on both organic and inorganic chemical concepts. Caroline has 5 years of tutoring experience. For three years, she acted as a high school English literature and math tutor (in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, pre-calculus and AP calculus AB and BC). Caroline also has two years’ experience preparing students for the math section of both the ACT and SAT. During her four years in undergrad, she acted as both a science peer tutor and a teaching assistant in chemistry, instructing students in both general and organic chemistry. Caroline takes great pride in helping her students reach a deep understanding of all academic concepts and subsequently achieve their goals.
Subjects Tutored: Biology, Chemistry, Physics
Suzy Kim
test prep and humanities
Suzy Kim graduated from University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in English with Honors, and is now a Visiting Scholar at Brown University, where she earned her Ph.D. in English in 2023. During her time at Brown, Suzy has taught courses on Victorian literature, visual media, and composition for undergraduates. Since 2015, Suzy has consistently taught SAT Reading and essay-writing to high school students in both classroom settings and one-on-one formats. In her spare time, she likes to watch horror movies and sing karaoke.
Subjects Tutored: SAT, ACT, English, History, College Essays
