About PeerSquared
We work with schools and communities to build sustainable peer tutoring programs, so K-12 students can have a free and effective resource whenever they need it.
❤️ Why
We believe all K-12 students should have accessible, effective, and relatable academic support.
🧭 Mission
To change K-12 education through the power of students and their communities.
🔭 Vision
Our vision is for every school to have community-centered programs where all stakeholders work together for all students' success, not just in their academics but also in their social well-being.
Michael Wang
Chief Executive Officer
Michael and friends started their high school’s first peer tutoring club five years ago as juniors to provide students with safe and relatable academic help. As someone who changed majors twice without much passion for anything particular, it’s fair to say that PeerSquared has changed that. Other than that, he likes to give his dog belly rubs.
Ke Liu
Chief Learning Officer
Ke Liu is an avid gardener, a hardcore runner, and a learning experience designer. Ke's experiences in different industries led her to an interest in studying human learning and a life goal to promote equity in education. She joined PeerSquared as the co-founder and the Chief Learning Officer.
Alina Chisti
Learning Designer
Alina founded a tutoring club at her local high school to provide academic support to her peers. That later segwayed her into a position with PeerSquared as a program director. After graduating from high school and getting ready to attend Cornell University, Alina transitioned into her current learning design role. Outside of her passion for education, Alina is a skilled photographer and published writer.
How it started
As a high school student, Michael Wang experienced many frustrating nights spent working on homework and trying to study for tests with no help in reach. When he became a college student, more resources and support opened up to him, but he saw his younger brother suffer the same fate during his journey through high school. But Michael knew there was a solution: peer tutoring. Having worked with friends to start their high school’s first peer tutoring, he recalled the impact he and other peer tutors had on both honors and at-risk students. So carrying with him the vivid imagery of his brother’s late-night stress from AP Biology, using resources from Arizona State University, PeerSquared was born in November 2018.
Since the inception of PeerSquared, the mission has always been focused on helping students access the effective and relatable support only found through peer tutoring - where “peer x peer” collaboration between similarly aged students led to miraculous outcomes. Another this another way and we have PeerSquared. So as our name suggests, we truly believe in the power of peer-to-peer support and know that there is potential in every school and community to transform any student into a leader and role model - a peer tutor.
As one can imagine, starting a business as a college student is not a straight path. But thanks to the support of many, Michael and team continue to fulfill their own dreams of helping students succeed and have allowed many high school tutors to do the same. Here are a few milestones from PeerSquared’s journey so far:
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In Arizona State’s Student Pavilion, an unnamed online scheduling platform was being built to support in-school peer tutoring programs.
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PeerSquared graduated from SEED SPOT’s 2-Day Launch Camp with a business plan and, most importantly, their identity as a social venture aiming to always put students above profit.
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Through ASU Venture Devil’s Demo Day pitch competition, PeerSquared was awarded substantial grant funding.
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PeerSquared, now a registered public benefit corporation, launched their first pilot connecting 15 local high schoolers with ~80 dual language immersion K-5 students of Tarwater Elementary School for summer Mandarin conversational practice. 450+ sessions were delivered and 600+ volunteer hours were awarded.
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Students from Desert Vista High School and Hamilton High School now use PeerSquared’s online peer tutoring tutoring platform to help others and get help. As educational consultants, PeerSquared works closely with each school’s peer tutoring organization to increase their reach and impact.
We look forward to the results of our upcoming pilots in Arizona and hope many more schools will benefit from peer tutoring in the near future. Feel free to contact us using the message box at the bottom or just put in your contact info to stay tuned to our progress.
Your students are one step closer to academic success.
We'll be in contact shortly! Look out for an email from success@peer-squared.com.