Meet Isabella Olivas
Isabella grew up in Manhattan Beach, attended Mira Costa High School, and graduated from UCLA with a B.S. in Biology. She became hooked on tutoring her senior year at UCLA, when she completed the TEACH internship, where she tutored, mentored, and presented health education modules to at-risk students in Los Angeles. She was also a UCLA campus tour guide for three years, working closely with Undergraduate Admission, and speaking to hundreds of prospective and admitted students and their families each year. She has spent 9 years tutoring students K-12 throughout Los Angeles including Manhattan, Redondo, and Hermosa Beach.
Meet Our Team
Salma Durra
Salma graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Biochemistry and a minor in Economics, then earned her M.S. in Gerontology from USC. She is currently pursuing her Clinical Medical Assistant certification and plans to apply to medical school.
Salma discovered her passion for teaching while tutoring students throughout college. Since 2020, she has worked with students from middle school through college in subjects including chemistry, biology, math, English, French, and history. She also served as a Project Leader with InterAxon at USC, where she taught neuroscience and STEM lessons to K–12 students across Los Angeles and helped lead educational programs on USC’s campus.
Angelina Sotelo
Angelina lived in Huntington Beach before moving to Brentwood. She attended Orange Coast College before transferring to UCLA, where she graduated with a B.S. in Engineering Geology. She is currently pursuing an M.S. in Civil Engineering at UCLA with a focus on Geotechnical Engineering. Angelina is passionate about education and hopes to become a teacher in the future. She enjoys helping students build confidence and strengthen their understanding across a variety of subjects, including Math, Science, and English.
Founder, Pier to Peer Tutoring
Our Services
Pier to Peer Tutoring is a primarily online tutoring service connecting Los Angeles students with tutors to help fill in learning gaps and provide support and encouragement with assignments and studying outside of school. Online sessions allow students to have access to the best tutors anywhere in the city, allow for more opportunities finding last minute help, and keep sessions as affordable as possible.
Most students receive assignments and school materials digitally, making Zoom sessions incredibly effective as students and tutors can share screens, annotate, and write on the Zoom whiteboard. Zoom sessions are especially effective for middle and high school students, but can be beneficial for students as young as elementary age!
Testimonials
Dena K.
Manhattan Beach, CA
"We have been absolutely thrilled with our daughter’s experience working with Isabella for the past few years. Her dedication, patience, and ability to make every subject understandable have made such a tremendous difference in our daughter’s high school success. Isabella has helped her build confidence, improve her grades, and truly excel across every subject including AP/Honors courses. We couldn’t be more grateful for the support and guidance she has provided and would highly recommend her to any student!"
Christie S.
Manhattan Beach
"Our family agrees Isabella is an incredible tutor and person and we’re very grateful to have her help. The middle school son and high school daughter have been successfully improving in every way and she is certainly an important part of getting them reset and pointed in that direction. They are now better prepared academically and mentally for greater challenges with STEM, English and AP Bio/Calculus classes. Her exceptional personal qualities brought out the best in them as people and students.They were hoping for a tutor with the following qualities: Capable, Caring, Professional, Inspiring mentor. Isabella is all of that and much more!"
Jaime M.
Manhattan Beach, CA
"Isabella tutored my daughter through 5th and 6th grades. She was a tremendous help with teaching organization, study skills and taking tests. Before Isabella, my daughter seemed to know the subjects material before a test but would score low. She made a complete turn around on all the above when Isabella started tutoring her. She also helped my daughter with her essay writing skills. Isabella is very patient and has a wonderful personality. She has a gift of making her students feel confident and encouraged. I highly recommend her!"
Jennifer S.
Chicago, IL
"I have been so grateful to have Isabella tutoring my son. She is incredibly patient, caring, and has such a gentle demeanor that makes students feel comfortable and supported. lsabella has not only done a great job prepping my son for the ACT, but is also helping him with college prep. I appreciate that Isabella provides a thoughtful summary after each session so I know how my son did and what they worked on. She is knowledgeable, compassionate, and genuinely invested in my son's success. I highly recommend Isabella without reservation."
Jennifer R.
El Segundo, CA
"Isabella tutored my son from 8th through 11th grade and was wonderful. She is professional, patient, and explains concepts clearly. She teaches students how to solve problems rather than simply giving answers. Her guidance helped my son build confidence and improve his skills. I highly recommend her as a tutor."
Jill L.
Manhattan Beach, CA
"Isabella is incredibly talented and patient. She is extremely reliable and always prompt. Her voice is so soothing she calmed down our entire family when she visited. I would highly recommend Isabella for tutoring in any subject!"