Your student is bright. Their grades tell another story.
The distance between the two is a thinking problem, and thinking is what this system works on: the models your student uses, for the subject and for themselves, rebuilt one to one on their own coursework. It is the same system I run for every student, and it asks the same thing of them: that they do the work.
Engagements start at $750 every four weeks.
One 50-minute session each week.
No contract or minimum term · Remote, nationwide
One engineer, one to one.
UT Austin ECE · Former director at Microsoft · Formerly Elite Guide, Alpha/GT School · 3,000+ recorded 1:1 hours
“He has gotten back his love of math and science that he lost for a few years, which is priceless.”
Natalie D., parent of HS senior
How the week works
The subject is the vehicle. The student is the work.
Every session is a session on how your student thinks. Two things move that: master a concept before moving past it, and work one to one, so the work is built for the student in front of me. I do both. Four times out of six is not mastered. Near automatic is.
Before
Your student's coursework arrives before the session — the problem set, the quiz that went sideways — and the session is built on it.
Together
I ask far more questions than I answer. A right answer with no why is the gap the exam finds.
That evening
A worked guide to your student, a written report to you — both written against the transcript, not from memory.
Between sessions
One set per session: the same idea with the shape changed, never the same problem with new numbers. What comes back is graded, every problem.
Next time
The transcript gets a second read, and that review is what I prepare the next session from.
One real summary, sent the same night — names changed, dates removed
Hi Dana and Nate,
A quick recap of tonight’s session.
What went well
- Vince showed strong number sense throughout the session. On one sigma-notation problem, he bypassed the standard algebra and came up with his own mental shortcut immediately — fast and correct.
Looking ahead
- Wednesday — Unit 10 test
Excerpt from the family's report.
Sound familiar?
Your kid used to light up when they figured something out. Somewhere in the last few years, that light faded. School became something to survive. You've tried what everyone tries — and watched the homework conversation turn into a fight anyway.
- Their ability and grades seem impossible to reconcile.
- People call them lazy. You've seen what they can do when the work connects to something they want.
- They're “not interested in anything” — except the things school doesn't count.
- A grade may be at risk, while urgency has stopped motivating them.
This pattern is not a verdict on your parenting or their ability. It is not a pass, either.
Not lazy — unwilling, until the work connects to something they want. I can build that connection: a mentor outside the family and the classroom, direct conversation, real problems, and a student who owns the work. I cannot supply the wanting. The question is whether they will work with someone who takes their thinking seriously — and for this student, that is usually the first time anyone has asked.
An engineer who's been where they are
I recognize parts of this pattern from my own experience: a fast mind, boredom in class, and grades that did not consistently reflect ability. My path led through UT Austin engineering, a cybersecurity startup, a director role at Microsoft, and GT School, Alpha's school for gifted learners, where I served as an Elite Guide.
Today I keep the practice deliberately small so I can prepare for and review each student's work personally. Students get direct, intellectually serious conversation without being talked down to.
And I treat the craft itself like an engineering problem. Every session is recorded and reviewed — where a student's energy dropped, where their reasoning went sideways, where a different question would have landed better — and the next session is prepared from that review. Three thousand recorded hours taught me to do it that way.
If you already have the vocabulary for this — twice-exceptional, 2e, gifted, neurodivergent — you're in the right place. Those are the students I work with every day, and it's who this tutoring and mentorship practice was built for: the kids whose test scores and report cards tell two different stories.
What it has produced
His pre-calculus grade was an F. Graduation was at risk. Eight weeks later he scored an 88 and walked across the stage.
F → 88
pre-calc in 8 weeks; graduated on stage
$60,000
merit scholarship to SCAD
Purdue Honors
Aerospace Engineering admit
3,000+
recorded 1:1 mentorship hours
Individual examples from Matt's one-to-one work; experiences vary and are not guarantees.
“Why are we just now finding you? Where have you been the last few years?!”
Kirstie W., parent of game-design admit
Matt Starolis
Engineer-Mentor · Founder
When the grade is handled, the same system goes further.
The work is collaborative: I ask the student to meet me halfway, then follow their curiosity with them. The immediate job might be a pre-calculus grade that needs attention. We address it while practicing how an engineer approaches a problem. When time allows, we may also explore how CPUs work, how startups get built, or why a piece of mathematics was invented. That is the same system, pointed at what they want to know.
The goal is a student who runs it without me: who can say how they learn, choose an approach, and judge their own work.
Your first four weeks
You are not buying a standing appointment. Here is the actual sequence, and you can hold me to it.
- Week one — I find out what they do alone.
- I give your student coursework I have not taught them and watch how they open it. Not to grade it. The way a student attacks a problem they have not seen is the whole diagnosis — the model they are using — and it is the thing a report card cannot tell you.
- Weeks two and three — the habit, not the topic.
- We work whatever the class is on, but the thing I am installing is the move above, written into how every solution is set down, until it stops being something they remember to do. Topics come and go. The habit is what sits the exam.
- Week four — you get a straight read.
- What has moved, what has not, and whether I am the right person for this. If the answer is no, I will say so and tell you what I think they need instead. That has happened and it will happen again.
What this asks of your student, and of you
There is no secret. It's smart work.
I prepare the sessions, explain the ideas, build the practice, and grade what comes back. Your student brings the class materials, works through the practice, and sends back what they finish. You support the follow-through at home.
Think of a personal trainer. You hire one for the roadmap, the knowledge, and someone in your corner — not to do the work for you, and not to make you do it. I am not an enforcer, and I am not your student's parent. If the end of our session is the end of your student's work for the week, the session will still help. It will not change the year.
Your student does not have to arrive confident. Trust takes time, and there needs to be room to think out loud and be wrong. The one thing I cannot supply is the wanting. I can build a room where it is safe to be wrong and worth trying; whether they step into it is theirs, and I will tell you honestly what I see.
The engagement
Engagements start at $750 every four weeks.
One 50-minute session each week, with preparation, the evening guide and parent report, and one practice set per session, graded when your student returns it.
A twice-weekly cadence is available; the scope and exact fee are agreed before you begin. No contract or minimum term.
Tell me about your student
I read your note personally and reply within 24 hours.
Engagements start at $750 every four weeks.
One 50-minute session each week, with preparation, the evening guide and parent report, and one practice set per session, graded when your student returns it.
No contract or minimum term · Remote, nationwide
A one-minute fit check
Is this the right kind of support?
A good fit should survive a few honest questions. See where it looks strong — and where another kind of support may serve your student better. No email required.