Students know Skyward is the first place to go.
January 08, 2024
Students know Skyward is the first place to go.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Skyward Student Management System
Skyward is the school district's main Learning Management System (LMS). It tracks student grades, discipline, and attendance. As well as many other important pieces of information, including demographic information, IEP/504 information, and any medical alert information. It also serves as a host for communication between teachers/school staff and families, as parents can send a message to all of their student's teachers from one place, and teachers can send messages to students, parents, or both from the messaging center.
- Allow custom grading categories with editable weight.
- Automatically calculate midterm and final grades.
- Store data for students across their entire educational career.
- Integration with outside systems (Google Classroom) can be clunky at times (though it has gotten better with time.)
- Student search can only be done by last name.
- Messaging is not well integrated into the entire application, it can only be accessed from the messaging center.
- Consolidates grading, attendance, etc. all in one place.
- Manages data from over 2000 students in 6 buildings K-12.
- Been used by district for over 20 years.
I was not part of the selection team, which was done at the ISD level, but it was selected over others for its ability to integrate many different functions and features into one platform. So, instead of having to purchase multiple products to accomplish all we need, Skyward allows schools to get everything in one place.
Do you think Skyward Student Management System delivers good value for the price?
Not sure
Are you happy with Skyward Student Management System's feature set?
Yes
Did Skyward Student Management System live up to sales and marketing promises?
I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process
Did implementation of Skyward Student Management System go as expected?
I wasn't involved with the implementation phase
Would you buy Skyward Student Management System again?
Yes
Skyward Student Management System Feature Ratings
Using Skyward Student Management System
200 - Learning Management System (LMS). They store and organize all school-related data of students in the district. Including but not limited to grades, attendance, demographic data, class schedule, discipline, IEP/504, and health alerts. Teachers can enter grades, and students and parents go here to view grades as well as class schedules.
3 - The district tech department handles all in-house support for Skyward SMS. They maintain the functionality of the system, reset user passwords, create classes, and update user data.
- Grade tracking and entry.
- Documenting student attendance.
- Creating class schedules.
- Pull grades to setup lunchtime study table.
- Track eligibility for athletics.
- Send mass communication to parents.
- Create in class assessments that auto-grade and update in real time.
- Sync grades from another LMS like Google Classroom.
- Allow students to see available courses and create their own schedule.
Evaluating Skyward Student Management System and Competitors
Not Sure
- Integration with Other Systems
I was not part of the purchasing process, so this question isn't relevant.
Focus mostly on ease of integration, as teachers all have different preferences when it comes to online resources. Having a system that easily integrates with other programs saves so much time for teachers.
Skyward Student Management System Implementation
- Implemented in-house
- Migrating old data.
- Training staff on use.
- Onboarding guardians.
Skyward Student Management System Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
Unsure as I do not interact with support.
Using Skyward Student Management System
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Easy to use Well integrated Consistent | Requires technical support Slow to learn Cumbersome Lots to learn |
- Entering student grades.
- Entering class attendance.
- Modifying individual student attendance.
- Modifying grades after initial entry.
- Updating missing assignments for a student.
- Scheduling messages for students/guardians.
Yes - The mobile interface is very basic, the first thing you see when entering the app is the option to open the full application on a browser. The app only really works for student attendance and viewing/modifying grades one student at a time.