Skyward review

This is my district's 7th year using Skyward. I am the counseling secretary in our high school and work in Student Management. I am also a security manager for our district. Honestly, when we made the transition to Skyward I was very unhappy. I didn't find Skyward to be very user friendly and I wasn't pleased with the customer support response time. Oftentimes I was unable to find a way to make Skyward do what I needed. However, as the years have passed, Skyward has made improvements to the program, I have learned the system better and the customer support live chat option is a huge timesaver. Now, I really enjoy using Skyward. I have the dubious distinction of being our district's "Skyward guru" and I believe I've learned a lot through exploration in my efforts to assist others. When I can't find answers, I know that help is only a live chat away! I would definitely recommend Skyward to other districts.

Pros

Possibly my favorite aspect of Skyward is the ability to dump data directly into Excel. This is a huge timesaver and allows me to manipulate, sort, share and utilize data as needed. I also like the ability to create reports based on my needs using Data Mining.

Cons

There are still a few things that I wish I could do in Skyward, that I can't, such as use activity groups to run certain reports/schedules. Occasionally, we experience what I call "Skyward quirks" when something doesn't work right one day, but it works the next. Recently, our library parapro ran a report and new that the info displayed wasn't wholly accurate. I checked her format and everything was good. I printed it with the same results. I cloned the report, changing nothing, and ran that and it was accurate. The next day her report worked properly again.

Long-Time User

I have used Skyward for many years, so I have seen it evolve. I will tell you this; you get what you pay for. Skyward is top-of-the-line! It will not always be the least expensive software, but it is more than worth the cost!! The software definitely helps customers work smarter not harder. With many of us wearing different hats, we need to find all of the time-saving opportunities we can; Skyward makes that happen! Skyward has many ways to get to the same information, so the ease of use is really in the end-user's hands. There is a plethora of shortcuts that Skyward has provided for the end-user, so no need to get bogged down trying to find programs/areas. Their Customer Service is top-notch. I have never had an issue that was not solved in a timely manner. They are wonderful! I could go on and on where Skyward is concerned. I not only love the software, but I like that the fact that Cliff King and the entire company has a focus on nothing but schools. They are truly concerned about the customer feedback, and they use that to make the software better (although I think it's pretty close to perfect now)!

Pros

The flexibility and multiple ways to achieve the end results we are looking for.

Cons

None!

Student Management at your Fingertips

Overall my experience has been great. Without Skyward I would not be able to do my job as a school secretary and I am glad that so many schools are using. It does have a daunting learning curve but it's nothing that can't be overcome with time and patience.

Pros

Skyward's interface customization is great, giving users the ability to the display the data they need for their particular job. Almost every section, big or small, has a customize button you can use to turn settings on and off. As a result employee's have their own "Skyward" they can learn in and out. Another great thing I love about Skyward is how many reports you can run with it. If you need phone list for students of a particular grade then it can easily be generated. You can also see if someone else has already made that report and just clone it. Anything you need there's probably a report for it and if not it can be created relatively quickly.

Cons

Skyward has a quite large learning curve and without appropriate training it can easily overwhelm new users. It's not a program that can be self taught because some settings are hidden under several layers of menus. A new user would probably need about five or six hours of training to be able to be remotely competent with it. There are manuals and help guides available but I've found them to be hard to navigate.

LOVE SKYWARD

I have always loved this program once I started using it (2001?), it was PAC back then. Like everything in life, skyward needs some tweeks:) That is why you have four stars, also if you were to get five stars then we wouldn't need you anymore and believe me there are times I need your help. That all said, I work with Food Service, there are a few tips & tricks I would love to learn from you. I wish you offered a one-on-one quick tip sessions to sign up for.

Pros

Easy to use, can do multiple windows to jump from one area to another is huge!

Cons

Food Service application letter set up:(

Awesome tool for teachers, students and parents

Up-to-date information about my child's progress in school, missing assignments, grades on tests and projects. Especially my for high school student, this info can be hard to get from them and so many times you do not know about issues until it is too late. I open Skyward every night at the dinner table and we talk about grades, upcoming exams and papers. She knows I am looking and it helps her to stay on task.

Pros

There are so many functions in one place. Check grades, missing assignments, email teachers, lunch calendar, etc. Multiple children in a family can be easily accessed together.

Cons

When emailing a parent/teacher, they cannot respond back directly. I wish they could. It would make the line of communication more direct. But, at least they can read the message and respond back by another means.

Responsive company with top notch software

Skyward has been our SIS for 10 years now and while many districts have switched SIS systems every few years, we have remained happy customers. The main reason for this happiness? The company is very responsive to the input from their customers. Because of being responsive to that input, Skyward has been able to create an extremely flexible system that allows for many different scenarios for how schools operate. The future is bright, and we know even more great things are coming from the company.

Pros

Flexibility and the frequency of updates to the software

Cons

Navigation can be burdensome for those who have system-wide security access. This is just due to the amount of features that are available, but not much of a problem for end users as they only have access to what they actually need.

I am parent user for this program and I find it to be easy to use and easy to understand.

Pros

I like that I can choose how I want my screen to look and can choose the information presented. I am able to toggle between all of the different pages easily and efficiently. I can access my child's information st the click of a finger. Additionally, I can access pertinent school and district information. I prefer this program to PowerSchool, as a parent user. I have access to more information faster and easier.

Cons

I have had no real problems with this program so far. It has served my needs as a parent. I only struggled with the initial login, due to a bit of s glitch in the system, but that was all worked out.

Top of the Line

I always describe Skyward as a top of the line SIS. Skyward has been wonderful to work with and an asset to our district. We love giving our staff one stop shopping for data. We also know our parents and students have come to rely on Family/Student Access for up-to-date information. We find the system easy to use and has features and functionality that is always on the cutting edge.

Pros

Very easy to use for all levels. Skyward holds an abundant amount of data so we can use it in my areas in the school district.

Cons

There is sometimes a longer wait then expected to hear from customer service.

Patti St. Charles High School

When my district converted to Skyward, some of the training sessions were not as informative as we would have liked. Now that we are a few years into using the software, most of us have come to appreciate all that can be done. It continues to be a learning process. Many of the "features & functions" are real time savers.

Pros

Reports that are time savers.

Cons

Some settings are at deep levels that are difficult to find and use.

The Sky is the limit with Skyward

Skyward School Management has been a very positive change for our district. We switched a couple of years ago and since then it is easier for us to manage debt on lunch accounts and easier for me as a parent to stay on top of things like this.

Pros

I like how easily accessible Skyward is for parents to keep track of student expenses. Not only can parents easily add money to and watch student's lunch accounts, they can also easily pay fees online and very quickly. In a matter of seconds, I am able to add lunch money to my child's lunch account.

Cons

There is nothing I dislike about this software.

Excellent program for student management

I am not the secretary at our school, so I don't get into as much detail with this software as she does, however I do use Skyward on a daily basis. For the information I need about students, this program works very well for me. I am pleased with the organization of information.

Pros

The organization of this software is something I really like. I can get on the program without having too much user knowledge and find what I am looking for. I think it has a wonderful array of information options for our students' profiles. This is a user friendly software.

Cons

I use this software every day and for the level of use, I don't have any negative issues.