Student Management Suite Software

Great service, glad our school district switched!

Pros

The school I work at switched to this 3 years ago and it allows me to go on-line to check my sick days, personal days, and check stubs. It is very user friendly.

Cons

The only real negative I can think of is, some times I forget my password, otherwise it is a very nice system to have that I can monitor my information instead of calling HR.

It took an old outdated system that was previously used and brought the school district back into the modern age.

Pros

There is a lot that can be accomplished through Skyward. You can track students, finance, and human resource functions. Each module is very easy to use and they are willing to work with you to assist in making changes and upgrades to their products.

Cons

Sometimes the functionality is a little rough, but the programmers have been making constant upgrades to the system and new updates come out all the time.

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.

Advice to Others

Keep lots of notes and screen shots. Eventually you will be able to use the software without the notes.

I could not do my job without this software. Customer Service always comes through for us and answer us in a very timely manner when we need help.

Pros

Easy to use

Cons

My only complaint is the need to change calendar days in multiple spots, like changing our end of term this week after a snow day.

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.

Advice to Others

Take the time to explore and learn and you will find that Skyward is a very versatile product. You can do a lot with Skyward if you take the time to learn what it can do for you.

The customer service at skyward is quick and efficient. They get back to you pretty quick and will follow up if they haven't heard from you in a few days.

I've not had a chance to use much of it, but I'm sure its great! I'm not usually in the student side of skyward, but everything you all do is top notch. I tried to leave my review as neutral as possible.

Pros

N/A

Cons

N/A

Advice to Others

N/A

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.

Advice to Others

Keep listening to your customers and moving forward. Never be satisfied with mediocrity.

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!

Advice to Others

I would tell other software users to at least take a look at Skyward; you will not be disappointed. I have seen a few other Student Management Systems, and none of them compare to Skyward...truly. I would also say that if you are manipulating data to comply with state/federal reporting, that you are wasting a huge amount of time and energy that you don't need to if you had Skyward. Your time could certainly be well spent in other areas I am sure! I would encourage 'other' software users to speak with a Skyward account. There is a reason that Skyward retains their accounts!

Skyward can do as much as you want it to. We currently use it for student management and skyalert, but I just asked for a quote for the HR/Business suite as well. We have been using Skyward for almost 11 years now.

Pros

It can do so much.

Cons

Cost.

Advice to Others

Don't wait to make a serve call. They can save you time and aggravation.

With all the functionality of this software, I can stay on top of student grades and attendance with ease!

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.

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:(

Advice to Others

I would love to see your software customer service staff have site visits, I think this would help for both skyward customers and skyward employees. Not everyone is using this software to its fullest, including me.

We are a small, rural school district. We have been using Skyward's School Management System for several years. Our staff, parents, and students love the software's ease of use. With more and more people on mobile devices 24/7, our users enjoy using the Skyward Mobile App to be able to view information on the go from almost anywhere. We have had several new staff that had to learn the software and their training has been great. The customer service has always been very fast and efficient.

I absolutely love Skyward and utilize it on a daily basis. Skyward Support is amazing. The company is always moving forward and staying in touch with client needs.

Cons

That our district is underutilizing features! :( Through NO fault of Skyward.

The Skyward product is a great tool for parents to use to keep up with our children's grades, attendance records, and school communication. I find it easy to maneuver and enjoy having a mobile app to utilize!

Would give much higher ratings if payments could be automated for my child's lunch account as the system we previously used allowed.

Pros

Easy to log into and see info.

Cons

Difficult to actually address payment issues that I find.

As a special educator I am forced to use the IEP system. I find it to be user unfriendly and makes more work than necessary. It lacks drop down menus for test accommodations. The format works but moving between pages is cumbersome. Meeting dates as well as implementation and end dates have to be entered on each page individually...Really, there must be a better way. Please meet with Special Educators to fix this mess.

Product work well even though they don't follow best management practices in their database. They have database structures where they have the same data enter into the system multiple times. As far as support you will need a calendar and not a stop watch. You can't call a support person directly you will be put in the email que of death and wait and wait and wait. There chat line works ok but this will not meet all your support needs. Also there support calls are not 24 * 7 unless you pay extra fees. They charge for support outside on normal day to day support. They are also expensive.