Your Path to STEM Success, Step-by-Step.


Develop lifelong learning strategies, build confidence, and reach your academic goals.

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Founded by Ph.D. Chemist, Alena Vasquez.

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  • Alena really is the most sweetest, helpful tutor I've ever had. I truly feel like she is helpful with the organic chemistry content, shes encouraging and she is helping me learn this class in english while I am taking it in spanish. Passed my assessments with just one class, if youre looking to pass your exams and get a better understanding of the material, this is the way to go.

    • Ana Organic Chemistry

  • Alena is THE BEST! I made the crazy decision to self-study AP Chem and Alena was the absolute best tutor I could've asked for! Her concise and clear explanations made the class's content easy to understand. On top of that, she is so organized and had a progress tracker both for our pace throughout the year and my scores on practice tests. She is so kind and is very flexible. She tailored our sessions to what I needed. Whether it was content review, MCQ/FRQ practice, or test strategies, I always left our sessions feeling more confident in my chemistry abilities. I just came out of the exam and I felt so prepared thanks to Alena's help! I will be back for my college chemistry classes! :D

    • Ari, Self study AP Chemistry

  • Alena is very patient, understanding, very knowledgeable, and just the right person I needed. What I mostly appreciate is the 'no judgment zone' because what I'm learning is hard, and I really take time to solve a problem, but she's right there to help and explain it in ways I can better understand. I feel more confident in what I'm doing now, but it's all thanks to her!

    • Ana General Chemistry

  • a great and very nice tutor🚀

    • Kaiden HS Honors Chemistry

  • Alena truly goes out of her way to make sure you understand your areas of weakness. After our first session, she created custom practice problems to make sure the concepts she teaches stick. She is enthusiastic in her teaching methods, and makes complex topics easy to understand. Highly recommend!

    - Zak, HS, AP Chemistry

  • Alena was an amazing tutor for inorganic chemistry! She really went out of her way to find helpful resources and send me practice problems. This was in addition to reviewing the class's material and coursework in a way that was very thorough and personalized. I'm super thankful and would not done anywhere near as well as I did in the class without her help!

    - Emily, College, Inorganic Chemistry

  • Chemistry was a rollercoaster for me, but it felt like the last two exams were all downhill. I was sure I'd fail, but then I got the help I desperately needed from an amazing mentor—my chem teacher. Their tutoring turned things around, and I passed the class! Thank you for your patience and guidance; I couldn’t have done it without you.

    - Matthew, College, Chemistry

  • Alena is amazing. She helped me review for my exam and go through problems step by step. Her teaching style is great and really helps you understand each problem in great depth. Thank you!

    - Tamar, HS, Honors Chemistry

  • Alena is an incredible tutor and takes the time to truly understand how her students learn and adapts her style to it. I am so grateful for all of her help!

    - Tyler, College, Chemistry

  • She's very patient and adapts to your learning style. She's flexible with time and always helps me be well-prepared before each chemistry class! I highly recommend her.

    - Ana, HS, Honors Chemistry

  • Enthusiastic and knowledgeable, a terrific tutor. Takes the lead in lessons and teaches me even in situations when I'm expecting the assignments to be straight forward and simple.

    -Lev. College. General Chemistry Lab

  • Alena was able to explain to me in one lesson what I was unable to understand from my teacher all year. She's super kind and helpful and I'd 100% recommend her to anyone who needs help in chemistry.

    • Kennedy General Chemistry

  • Alena is super nice and helpful; she does her best to make complicated topics more understandable. I used her for ochem which is a hard topic

    • Nayeli Organic Chemistry

  • I love how Alena is really good at explaining very complex topics; it makes a subject as hard as chemistry a little less scary.

    • Mae General Chemistry

  • I wish I could give 10 stars for Alena! She has a real gift for teaching, especially tricky concepts like organic chemistry. We are currently in the throes of clarifying some of these concepts as I navigate my first semester of ochem as a nontraditional student. She has been pivotal in getting the light bulb to flash on in my brain! I highly recommend her, as she will wisely use the first session time to get inside your head and personalize a plan moving forward. She also goes out of her way to find other resources like video and texts that could complement her sessions. So impressive and she is incredibly sweet also.

    • Lisa Organic Chemistry

Our Philosophy

We believe that everyone can be successful with the right tools. That’s why we focus on building the necessary foundations, techniques, and strategies to help diverse students reach their goals.

The Steps to STEM Difference

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  • We are driven by our values of rigor, safety, diversity, equity, and inclusion. This is a safe place to learn and grow for all students regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, income status, disability, or other factors. All of our tutors receive equity training and we make this a pillar of our practice.

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  • At Steps to STEM Tutoring, we help you learn how to learn so that you can be successful at anything you choose to do. Our lessons are centered around building the necessary tools and strategies to think critically, study efficiently, and perform at your best in class.

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  • All incoming students meet with our intake coordinator to better understand their unique needs. This allows us to build a personalized plan for you and match you with one of our tutors.

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  • All Steps to STEM educators go through paid training in order to build a highly effective, standardized teaching system focused on developing critical thinking and other academic skills. This helps our tutors be the best they can be and helps our students find the most qualified educators to meet their needs.

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  • Ever wondered why some tutors charge $20/ hr and some charge $100/hr? At Steps to STEM, we are transparent in our pricing and clear about what is included in each pricing tier. You want to ask a one-time question? Come to our office hours and pay $20/ hr. You want consistent 1:1 tutoring with custom lesson plans, homework problems, and exam coaching? That’s a different price point. At Steps to STEM you can pay for what you need and trust that our team can meet your needs.

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  • All of our tutors get paid for their training hours and trial lessons. They are able to set their own pricing, within our transparent pricing tiers, and are charged a flat 20% commission (lower than all major tutoring platforms) that is reinvested into the tutor through advertisements, continued education, and more. Tutors are providing a valuable service and that is reflected in their compensation.

Book your FREE consultation with Alena Vasquez, PhD. and take your first step to STEM success.

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Steps to STEM
Tutoring Packages

Drop In

Features we know you’ll love:

Expert tutor

Quick & accurate answers

Guaranteed professionalism

Find answers

Basic

Everything in Drop In, plus:

Dedicated tutor for all lessons

Private 1 on 1 sessions

Basic techniques & coaching

Support in-session

General Chemistry

Organic Chemistry

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Pro

Everything in Drop In & Basic, plus:

Continued support out-of-session

Text-based support

Detailed lesson planning

Additional materials & homework

Supplemental study guides

Advanced techniques & coaching

Advanced topics
(E.g. Inorganic, Physical, Analytical, Experimental Chemistry)

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