The inspiring Kasthuri Devaraj has led the 50-year old school for decades. She joined in 1978 as a teacher and has been working selflessly since.

A volunteer from New Mexico who worked there one summer and said, “In many schools children with special needs are coddled, underestimated, & rarely pushed to excel to their full potential. But here I saw children helping each other dress, eat, study, stay on task, learn a new skill, demonstrate leadership, and much more.” 

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Kasthuri received the Bharat Excellence Award in New Delhi in June 2015 for her work at the school. Kasthuri was awarded the 'Mother Teresa Sadbhavana Award' in Delhi, India in December 2016. The Opportunity School received the Best Institution Award in August 2019 from the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.