--- description: Review of PowerSchool SIS Software: system overview, features, price and cost information. Get free demos and compare to similar programs. image: https://gdm-localsites-assets-gfprod.imgix.net/images/software_advice/og_logo-55146305bbe7b450bea05c18e9be9c9a.png title: PowerSchool SIS | Reviews, Pricing & Demos - SoftwareAdvice GB --- Breadcrumb: [Home](/) > [Classroom Management Software](/directory/4152/classroom-management/software) > [PowerSchool SIS](/software/436458/powerschool-sis) # PowerSchool SIS Canonical: https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/software/436458/powerschool-sis Page: 1 / 7\ Next: [Next page](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/software/436458/powerschool-sis?page=2) > Features of PowerSchool SIS include - Gain Critical Flexibility and Customization Capabilities: Customize the SIS to collect key data quickly, easily, and without needing coding knowledge or vendor help, and extend the core capabilities without having to wait for software development from the solution provider. Access a broad set of configuration options to make main features adaptable to changing needs. Rely on Proven Attendance and Scheduling Processes: Have confidence in proven, reliable scheduling and attendance processes that have been successful for over two decades and will provide you accurate, timely data for your compliance reporting. Provide an Intuitive Teacher Experience with PowerTeacher Pro Gradebook: Support teaching and learning with flexible and automated setup options, including unlimited grade scale creation/configuration and optimization for both standards-based and traditional grading. Eliminate tedious tasks and access the gradebook easily from any web-enabled device. Foster Online Communication Strategies for the Classroom: Centralize communications that drive parent adoption and provide real-time insights through access to grades, scores, assignments, attendance, course schedules, and more to help students stay on track, meet deadlines, engage in learning, and succeed. > > Verdict: Rated **4.3/5** by 143 users. Top-rated for **Likelihood to recommend**. ----- ## Quick Stats & Ratings | Metric | Rating | Detail | | **Overall** | **4.3/5** | 143 Reviews | | Ease of Use | 4.0/5 | Based on overall reviews | | Customer Support | 4.1/5 | Based on overall reviews | | Value for Money | 4.1/5 | Based on overall reviews | | Features | 4.2/5 | Based on overall reviews | | Recommendation percentage | 80% | (8/10 Likelihood to recommend) | ## About the vendor - **Company**: PowerSchool - **Location**: Folsom, US - **Founded**: 2000 ## Commercial Context - **Starting Price**: US$7.00 - **Pricing model**: Flat Rate - **Pricing Details**: Pricing is per student. - **Target Audience**: Self Employed, 2–10, 11–50, 51–200, 201–500, 501–1,000, 1,001–5,000, 5,001–10,000, 10,000+ - **Deployment & Platforms**: Cloud, SaaS, Web-based, Mac (Desktop), Windows (Desktop), Linux (Desktop), Chromebook (Desktop) - **Supported Languages**: English - **Available Countries**: United States ## Features - Admissions Management - Class Scheduling - Gradebook - Library Management - Mobile App - Parent/Student Portal - Report Cards - Reporting & Statistics - Student Management - Student Portal ## Support Options - Chat ## Category - [Classroom Management Software](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/directory/4152/classroom-management/software) ## Related Categories - [Classroom Management Software](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/directory/4152/classroom-management/software) - [School Management Software](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/directory/4685/school-management/software) - [K-12 Software](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/directory/4232/k-12/software) - [Student Information Systems (SIS)](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/directory/4228/student-information-system/software) ## Alternatives 1. [Alma MIS](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/software/264800/alma) — 4.6/5 (454 reviews) 2. [Gradelink](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/software/135730/gradelink) — 4.7/5 (732 reviews) 3. [iGradePlus](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/software/136840/igradeplus) — 4.7/5 (428 reviews) 4. [DreamClass](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/software/347326/dreamclass) — 4.8/5 (75 reviews) 5. [KINDERPEDIA](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/software/263441/kinderpedia) — 4.8/5 (165 reviews) ## Reviews ### "Student Information Management" — 5.0/5 > **Andrew** | *10 July 2020* | Education Management | Recommendation rating: 7.0/10 > > **Pros**: Powerschool streamlines all of the students information in one place to make it convenient to contact home, look at demographics data, attendance, and more. > > **Cons**: The only con is it can be difficult to get information updated as if parents/students do not know their account info they must go through the site admin which can delay information updates. > > Overall I could not see myself doing my job and managing student information without the systems in place. ----- ### "PowerSchool SIS" — 4.0/5 > **Susan** | *25 December 2020* | Education Management | Recommendation rating: 5.0/10 > > **Pros**: Powerschool Pro bundles grades and attendance into one program. We can change our attendance up to midnight, which is a real benefit in this new Virtual environment. PowerSchool has built-in graphical seating chart (click and drag) that can be printed - amazing feature\! We can do attendance from the seating charge grid - a huge timesaver\! When taking attendance, we can set the timeframe into the past, and get a great visual feel for students that have been missing excessive classes, for example. Clicking on Student View, I can see all their demographic info in one place, or all their grades and attendance for all classes. So helpful when making that Parent Call to know if the child is struggling in all of his classes, or just having trouble in my class. Gradebook is very robust - we are allowed to change the columns/view, for example, to accommodate the all the different screen sizes on our various devices we are using. Weighting grades is a click of a mouse, as are categories. Grades can be overridden, and re-calculated, at the click of a mouse. A fantastic feature of PowerSchool Pro is the ability to see a summary screen for the entire class by grading period (instead of individual grades). I can instantly identify students who made or missed their semester goal by 1 or2 points, for example, and then look at all their report cards to date to see what happened. I can easily see "low" or "high" classes and adjust my teaching style. > > **Cons**: PowerSchool (the website) goes down periodically for maintenance, and there is NO way for a "mere teacher" to find out when it will come back up\! If you are a teacher, you CANNOT contact PowerSchool directly - you must go through your "representative" who is (for my campus) NEVER available. Right now, yes, it is the holidays, but with NO NOTICE the program has been down for a week with NO IDEA of when it will ever come back up. I had made arrangements with some of my failing students over the Break, and so had other teachers. We are trying to find the student contact info and grade info that is all locked away in PowerSchool that we foolishly thought we would be able to access. With no luck. And we cannot even ASK when it might come back up. This happens regularly on Saturdays, Spring break - times when I am trying to catch up. I now keep my grades in an Excel spreadsheet so I can at least get at them. Teachers beware\! Another weakness currently is the Attendance Audit - for our District it only goes back 2 weeks. In High School, students lose credit after 4 absences / semester and it would be nice to be able to quickly see who those students are from a report. Lastly, they have an Attendance feature that allows you to group separate classes into one session, but that feature is MISSING for grades. If your periods are coded as different Classes by your District, you will be forced to open, close, enter grades, repeat... over and over for each separate class. > > PowerSchool Pro takes some getting used to and many of its features have been discovered by "word of mouth" from fellow teachers. They have increased their server capacity so the program is now fast and reliable. The only caveat is, if you are a mere teacher, there is NO way to ever find out beforehand if the software will suddenly be unavailable to you, and then it could be days before it comes back. So File Save your data, and Save often\! ----- ### "Least intuitive Student Information System I have used in 12 years of teaching" — 2.0/5 > **Audrey** | *18 January 2020* | Education Management | Recommendation rating: 0.0/10 > > **Pros**: I like that it updates the students every time I input a grade (after I hit "save"). That is motivational for students. > > **Cons**: Please note that the cons that exist here are features that exist in almost every other SIS that I have used in my experience and prevent me from using this efficiently. Not in order: 1) I cannot toggle between the first quarter, second quarter, and semester exam. The semester exam is not even there. 2) If I want to input the same grade for an assignment for all students, there isn't a code where I can fill down or copy a score from one student to the rest. 3) The assignments automatically default to percent-based, so if I put a 10 out of 10, it comes out as 10%, and I have to remember to select "points" instead of percent. 4) If multiple classes have the exact same assignment but a different point-amount or dates, I cannot change particular features of that assignment for that class, once the assignment is created. 5) There is no symbol that calculates as a 0 but is a notification for absentees. Instead, they see the 0 (even if I have the green absentee symbol next to it), and automatically think, "That's it." It demotivates students, even if I repeatedly remind them they can make it up if they were absent. Other programs use "Z" for this feature. 6) I cannot press tab between columns. 7) The bar on the right with the number pad, student information, etc., that appears when inputting grades, takes up too much room, especially if I am splitting my screen between PowerSchool and a spreadsheet. Those are the top cons, but there are more. > > It is counter-intuitive. Please study other models before rolling out the next version. ----- ### "PowerSchool - What I wish I still Had" — 5.0/5 > **Michael** | *5 December 2018* | Education Management | Recommendation rating: 10.0/10 > > **Pros**: PowerSchool was a fast, powerful student management system. The customizations were vast, and when properly trained, performed by indistrict staff. Custom Fields, Custom Reports, Custom Exports, Direct Database Exports and Imports. These are features that should be standard in many Student Information Systems, but unfortunately Not. PowerSchool also integrates very easily with a number of other applications. There is a built in export / import scheduler. There is an API, and many other features that take much time. The navigation system is superb, and the "selection" driver for searches and reports allows for vast customization and detail. We created custom reports for Honor Roll certifications, Perfect Attendance, and a number of very regular activities. > > **Cons**: PowerSchool was behind the ball when it came to State Reports. It didn't keep up often, and many of the reporting fields required duplication in a separate area of the data just to populate. Sometimes a student's demographic record would say one thing, and the report tab would say another. Constant looking at Reporting Release notes was necessary to make sure things were working correctly. Many support calls were made to make sure state reporting was working appropriately. Also, not a normal problem, but PowerSchool didn't focus on it's relationships with at least our State well enough. Without good support to the State, and communication, it allowed a 3rd party to swoop in gobble up much of our reason. I am actually angry, because we don't have PowerSchool anymore. > > PowerSchool is everything I want in a Student Management System. It has all the features you could dream for, and if not for a lack of top quality State Reporting, we should still be happily using it. If it wasn't a decision made over my head (unusual) we would still be using it. Almost daily I find another integration program that we want to be using, while we do something very painful. Today alone I had to write a custom export conversion to make our current (non-PowerSchool) exports work correctly with our other vendors. In PowerSchool, I could script this by design, with all the featureset imaginable. PowerSchool isn't necessarily super easy, but it's easier than most. Need a quick enrollment check? It's on the front screen. Need to see where a kid is, how they are doing, their attendance, it's on the Quick Lookup Screen. Why are they failing? Click the grade and see the gradebook assignments. It's just that easy. ----- ### "Not cheap. VERY powerful. Scales well. Works well.... but you will need training." — 5.0/5 > **Tom** | *17 November 2022* | Education Management | Recommendation rating: 7.0/10 > > **Pros**: The product works well - we have been using it for decades. As with most software, greater flexibility and power means more options, and a greater need for training. > > **Cons**: The tie-in with Enrollment could be better - the process for migrating user data is obtuse, and the year-to-year rollover is not as seamless as it should be. There is usually some cleanup that must be done - features turned back on, accounts reactivated, etc - that takes time to sort out. ----- Page: 1 / 7\ Next: [Next page](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/software/436458/powerschool-sis?page=2) ## Links - [View on SoftwareAdvice](https://www.softwareadvice.co.uk/software/436458/powerschool-sis) ## This page is available in the following languages | Locale | URL | | en | | | en-AU | | | en-GB | | | en-IE | | | en-NZ | | ----- ## Structured Data