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PowerSchool Student Information System has been widely praised by users for its ease of use and intuitive interface. Teachers, …
Overview
What is PowerSchool SIS?
The PowerSchool Student Information System covers administrative needs, such as scheduling, attendance, reporting, data management, faculty management, emergency/medical and health management, registration, and more for K-12 schools and districts. It is easy to use and boasts an industry-leading gradebook, PowerTeacher Pro. Users enjoy a fully…
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Product Demos
Demo showing PowerSchool Tuition Plugin
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Product Details
- About
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- Downloadables
- FAQs
What is PowerSchool SIS?
The PowerSchool Student
Information System covers administrative needs, such as scheduling, attendance,
reporting, data management, faculty management, emergency/medical and health
management, registration, and more for K-12 schools and districts. It is easy
to use and boasts an industry-leading gradebook, PowerTeacher Pro. Users enjoy
a fully web-based SIS that is flexible, configurable, and scalable with
real-time updates on any operating system, browser or device.
PowerSchool SIS Screenshots
PowerSchool SIS Videos
PowerSchool delivers innovative tools for the digital classroom
Customer testimonials
Customer testimonials
PowerSchool SIS Competitors
- Infinite Campus
- Skyward
- Aeries
PowerSchool SIS Technical Details
| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | Apple iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, Mobile Web |
| Supported Languages | Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Greek, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese |
Frequently Asked Questions
Infinite Campus are common alternatives for PowerSchool SIS.
Reviewers rate Student Data Security and Class Scheduling highest, with a score of 9.4.
The most common users of PowerSchool SIS are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
PowerSchool SIS Customer Size Distribution
| Consumers | 0% |
|---|---|
| Small Businesses (1-50 employees) | 30% |
| Mid-Size Companies (51-500 employees) | 70% |
| Enterprises (more than 500 employees) | 0% |
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Reviews and Ratings
(70)
Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
PowerSchool Student Information System has been widely praised by users for its ease of use and intuitive interface. Teachers, administrators, students, and parents have found the program to be relatively easy to learn and navigate. With PowerSchool, users can access attendance records, record grades, create progress reports and report cards, enter and view demographics, and create seating arrangements. Additionally, teachers can easily enter assignments into the grade book and communicate due dates and assignment expectations to students and parents. The program also serves as a centralized location for student management and information storage, allowing for unified student histories and easy transfers between schools within a district or county. PowerSchool integrates seamlessly with other educational systems, enabling the sharing of data and account management. Overall, PowerSchool Student Information System streamlines administrative tasks, improves communication between all stakeholders, and enhances the overall management of student information.
Customizability: Users have praised PowerSchool Student Information System for its highly customizable nature, with multiple reviewers stating that they can create their own fields and tables to tailor the system to their specific needs. This flexibility allows them to efficiently manage and track student information in a way that aligns with their unique requirements.
Integration capabilities: Several users have expressed appreciation for PowerSchool's extensive list of partners, highlighting that it simplifies the process of managing student data across multiple platforms. Reviewers have mentioned that if users already use another system for student data, chances are high that it can integrate seamlessly with PowerSchool. This integration capability enhances efficiency and provides a seamless experience for users.
Strong support system: Multiple reviewers have commended PowerSchool's strong support system, emphasizing the quick response time from customer support. They mentioned rarely being put on hold when calling support and finding reliable assistance through active user forums. The responsive customer support offered by PowerSchool ensures that users receive timely help when needed, enhancing their overall experience with the software.
Lack of Intuitiveness: Several users have found PowerSchool to be unintuitive, making it difficult for them to navigate and find the features they need. Some reviewers mentioned that certain functions require programming knowledge, which can be a barrier for administrators who are not familiar with coding.
Slow Performance: Reviewers have reported slow page loads and sluggish performance when managing student data in PowerSchool. This issue has been mentioned by multiple users, indicating that it is a common concern. The slow speed can hamper productivity and frustrate users trying to complete tasks efficiently.
Limited Integration and External Access: Users have expressed frustration with the limited integration options available in PowerSchool. Some reviewers have specifically mentioned difficulty in integrating external platforms or accessing the database for external integrations. This lack of flexibility restricts users from seamlessly incorporating other tools or systems into their workflow, hindering efficiency and collaboration efforts.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-16 of 16)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
March 16, 2021
Useful but needs work
The system has a great deal of potential but is not consistent when communicating with other management software. It is relatively easy to learn and use. It calculates final grades and allows for specific weighting on different assignments. Sometimes the icons are not clearly indicative of the purpose of the links. It needs work but, overall, the program serves the purpose for which it is intended.
- Allows for weighting of assignments.
- Logging discipline notes that follow the student from grade to grade.
- Calculates grades accurately.
- Does not consistently communicate with related software such as Illuminate for Special Education Students.
- Drop down menus frequently refresh as data is entered which slows down the user's ability to enter information.
- Icons are sometimes unclear and not easily understandable. Word labels for some items might be more effective.
PowerSchool Student Information System is being used by our entire school district to manage student registration, classroom rosters, grading, reporting, communications, and more. This system integrates with a variety of other educational systems that we use for academic needs. Rosters from PowerSchool Student Information System are shared seamlessly with other platforms, allowing for smooth account management of all systems. We currently use PowerSchool Student Information System with Google, Canvas (our learning management system), Discovery Education, and Clever.
- What I like best about PowerSchool Student Information System is that you can use it as a very basic level (rosters, attendance, grades) or go to very deep levels of integration with other PowerSchool systems (registration, human resources, special education).
- The PowerSchool Student Information System support system is strong among current users of the product. There is a vibrant community of end users who are willing to help other users.
- Resources for self learning are abundant in the PowerSchool Student Information System Community site.
- What I don't like is that it sometimes too complex for the typical user.
- Secretaries live in PowerSchool Student Information System as part of their duties. Some of the knowledge necessary to get the most out of PowerSchool Student Information System requires some level of programming knowledge, which is beyond most secretaries' skill sets.
- As PowerSchool continues to purchase other platforms to expand their offerings, it is difficult to stay up to speed on all of the trainings.
- Bigger is not always better. Just because you can expand and offer features doesn't mean you should.
December 23, 2019
PowerSchool Student Information System Review from an Educator
PowerSchool is being used by my organization as a full-roll-out Student Information System portal. Not only can staff track attendance, grades, etc., but also parents can login to their Parent View of Power School and then can access their student's grades, attendance, and notifications there. I find power school very user friendly and enjoy using it over Schoolology.
- Grade Book
- Attendance
- IEP Integration
- Benchmark Score Integration
December 20, 2019
PowerSchool SIS Review
PowerSchool is used by the whole company as our SIS program.
- Enrollment
- Grades
- Grading could be easier.
PowerSchool's SIS is the way we keep track of all the information for every student in the district. It is an easy program to manage, which is key for us. We also use other PowerSchool tools and having the SIS as the backbone allows all those programs to work really well. It does exactly what it's supposed to do, which is to manage student information.
- Easy to move students around.
- Easy to update student information when changes happen.
- Teacher search can be difficult.
- Data can be lost when teachers are shuffled.
December 18, 2019
Educator gives PowerSchool A+
Floyd County School System in Rome, GA uses PowerSchool to take attendance, see birthdays, rosters, input grades and take lunch orders in the cafeteria. It is incredibly user intuitive and only takes my fellow teachers and me a few minutes to put in grades. At my old school, we used another much more complicated and difficult system. PowerSchool has made my life as a teacher so much easier.
- Ease of Use: the menu is very straight forward and easy to navigate through.
- Mobile site/App: I appreciate that there’s a mobile version of the site as well as the app so I can input grades from my smartphone on the go.
- When going to the GA LDS site for our TKES performance review, we don’t get an email like we used to (when the system was not through PowerSchool) when our administrator fills out a document we need to complete.
- I wish it were linked to my email and reminders for inputting grades could be set up on a certain day each month to send me an email reminding of when they’re due.
Our school district utilizes PowerSchool throughout the district. It is our primary data hub for all student information including demographics, grades, attendance, and discipline. Every department in the school uses PowerSchool including, teachers, students, administrators, business office, and nurses.
PowerSchool addresses all of our student data needs. We have to collect and manage an enormous amount of student data and PowerSchool offers the ability to handle all of our student data needs.
PowerSchool addresses all of our student data needs. We have to collect and manage an enormous amount of student data and PowerSchool offers the ability to handle all of our student data needs.
- Manage demographic data to help us manage constantly changing state reporting requirements.
- Provide an excellent Gradebook for teachers that provides instant sync of grades to both the PowerSchool database and parent apps.
- At this time I wish PowerSchool would do a better job in attendance tracking. The current system works without errors, but can be cumbersome with the amount of data available.
- Uploading standardized test scores is also cumbersome. It can be done but takes some time to complete, and we had to create custom screens for people to be able to utilize that data effectively.
October 25, 2019
PowerSchool Student System Review
PowerSchool Student Information is used across the entire division to manage student records and grades. It contains student information ranging from demographics to classes they are taking, teachers, grades, etc. It is also used by teachers to print a variety of reports ranging from rosters to individual student reports and attendance.
- A wonderful student grade management tool. Easy interface to navigate. Used to add assignments, grade assignments, and categories and percentages.
- Can print detailed reports with the option to select features to print.
- Able to review a student's schedule, classes, grades in other classes, teacher's name and student demographics.
- When creating assignments sometimes a feature is blocked by a pop-up window.
- Would like to be able to print a student's overall attendance record for management.
October 24, 2019
Power up with PowerSchool
Our school district uses PowerSchool as our primary student information system (SIS). Teachers access it daily to report grades. Parents access it regularly to check grades. The administration uses it to record all attendance. Students access it not only to verify assignments but also to select classes when balloting happens. We connect to PowerSchool through our learning management software (LMS), our mobile platforms, as well as traditional desktops.
- The mobile app for students and parents is user-friendly and always up to date.
- Information for master scheduling is well done and of vital importance.
- Custom reports and settings are accessible.
- There is a need for a mobile app for the administration to easily view information while away from their desks.
- It would be nice if it had a more robust data warehouse for assessment data.
December 11, 2018
To PowerSchool, or not to PowerSchool...
We use PowerSchool for several pieces of our student information. First, we use it for attendance and to track absences and tardies. Secondly, we use the lunch count section. We have just begin to use the automated messaging/calling feature for delinquent lunch balances to help notify families of balances. We also use the gradebook installed to our desktops. It is nice to have a program that all faculty uses so that we are able to help each other with difficulties. It is also nice to have all of our student information in one spot to access.
- Automated calling/messaging for delinquent lunch balances
- Ease of accessing student information quickly
- Ability to view how students are doing in other classrooms and not just classes with you
- It can be difficult adding assignments to the gradebook if you don't click the right sequence of boxes
- Some information is buried in reports where you wouldn't expect them to be
- Setting up the gradebook for the first time may not make sense, especially if you are using standards based grading
November 18, 2018
Wonderful Product Review
PowerSchool is the SIS for our student data. It is the central hub for student and teacher data to satisfy the requirements for educational reporting to the state and federal levels. It is being used by our administrators, teachers, parents and students. It helps the parents stay abreast of all the information on their students.
- Web based solutions running a very reliable oracle database.
- Very user-friendly.
- It has a very strong support team!
- The state reporting is written to the specs of our department o0f education with makes reports easy.
- They are improving it every day by staying on top of the ever changing technology world!
- Again it is very user-friendly so it is hard to say that is hard to use.
- Don't change a thing!
November 18, 2018
PowerSchool SiS-continued growth
PowerSchool is an integral part of our school community. We use it to house student information and for grading purposes. The ease of use for both end users and administrators is an asset. For a sysadmin, the support community is a lifesaver as well.
- Excellent searchability for locating student information
- Compatibility with other systems is a major asset
- Highly customizable for storing unique information needed in a non-public school
- Roll out of new features sometimes needs debugging first
- Responsiveness support has become slightly more difficult with the increase in the clientele of the product
- Rapid expansion of the company over the last 12-24 months has resulted in some issues
November 08, 2018
PowerSchool Student Information System
We are a K-12 public school district currently using PowerSchool as our primary Student Information System. It houses all student and parent contact information, grades and transcript information, discipline information, and attendance information. We also have it connected to other products which extend the capabilities of PowerSchool. It addresses our need to maintain and report accurate digital records for students.
- Clean and user-friendly user interface that works in any web browser
- Solid partners that sell additional products to extend the core functionality of PowerSchool
- Offers the ability to customize the interface with basic HTML and SQL syntax
- Although it houses a lot of data, extracting that data often requires the use of data export and manipulation tools or writing SQL queries so only the technically-minded can do it
- Core functionality missing: digital report cards in the Parent/Student portal/app
- Support is hit-or-miss with low response time or a knowledgeable representative
November 08, 2018
PowerSchool - Solid and Flexible
We use PowerSchool SIS across the entire school for managing student demographics, parents, emergency and other student contacts, assignments and grades, schedules, attendance, discipline and medical alerts as well as special education needs. All our teachers use the integrated grade book. Parents and students have access to see grades, assignments and due dates through a parent/student portal or an app, which has eliminated the need for printed report cards.
- PowerSchool is highly customizable. We are able to create any field or table that is not part of the stock product.
- PowerSchool's list of partners is extensive. If you use any other system for information relating to student data, chances are that they will be able to integrate with PowerSchool
- Whenever I call Support, only rarely have I been put on hold. My call normally goes straight through to a support person.
- There are also several very active user forums. I have had many questions answered through one of those.
- The user interface could be more intuitive. Because of the many features, it can sometimes be difficult for administrators to find what they are looking for.
- A recent upgrade allowing for more flexibility in the relationship between students and parents was long in coming and didn't go very smoothly. We are now dealing with a ton of clean-up after the upgrade. Even after we have cleaned everything up, there is still a ways to go before PowerSchool is on par with other SIS systems in that area. In their defense though, they are actively working on getting caught up.
PowerSchool Student Information System is used throughout the school. It is used by teachers, administrators, students, and parents. The program is used to house students personal/home information, which allows their school team members to effectively communicate with their given family members. This information is updated by the guidance department or an administrator. PowerSchool Student Information System also provides detailed school information, including grades, attendance, GPA, as well as behavior and communication logs for given school members with administrative logins. The school information is updated by guidance, administrators, as well as classroom teachers.
Students, parents, and support personnel are able to view information but are unable to make any changes within the system. The only time students are able to make edits are during course selection time, where they work within a specific page and submit their requests for the following years classes. The most beneficial part of the PowerSchool Student Information System is for students, parents, and support personnel to view the student's updated grades, which include grades for specific assessments and assignments, as well as missing work.
Students, parents, and support personnel are able to view information but are unable to make any changes within the system. The only time students are able to make edits are during course selection time, where they work within a specific page and submit their requests for the following years classes. The most beneficial part of the PowerSchool Student Information System is for students, parents, and support personnel to view the student's updated grades, which include grades for specific assessments and assignments, as well as missing work.
- Having one linked system for student information including grades, data, attendance, etc., linked up to the grade-book (Power Teacher Pro) is very convenient for teachers.
- PowerSchool allows support staff, administration, parents, and students to all view overall grades as well as detailed information. This is a nice feature so that all members of a student's team can be on the same page, especially when there are missing assignments.
- PowerSchool has the feature to alert parents when students are absent from a class. Parents can check student's attendance at any time, but also can be alerted.
- While administrators have the ability to view schedules in a format that is easy to view, students and teachers are unable to have a yearlong or trimester long schedule that is printer friendly.
- The view available for looking back on attendance is not user-friendly. The grid per block is hard to read on both the screen and after being printed.
- As a teacher, there is no place within PowerSchool to document communication with students or parents. Having a log would be a nice feature so that there is a record and other staff members could see the history of communication.
November 09, 2017
PowerSchool Student Information System Review
PowerSchool is being used by the entire Catholic School to manage student demographic information, classes, registration, and grades. We have even expanded it out to now use PowerSchool's Learning Management System. It is a daily tool that is the center of how we keep and manage the abundance of our student information.
- User Friendly for both our students and staff.
- Very customizable, and supported by a lot of other vendors/services.
- Solid performance.
- Has shown to be very secure, and is trusted by families.
- Sales department could be better.
- Some features or settings can be hidden.
- Installing certain services can require a complex series of steps, and things are sometimes not very intuitive.