Gradelink Reviews

Pros

I like that there are a lot of functions, and it can be used for many things... for teachers, administration, lunch staff... everyone is working form the same place. We only have to have one program and it works.

Cons

There are a lot of functions, and a lot of things can be done with one program. :) This program takes some time to get used to. You have to watch ALL the training videos (the videos are good). But there are little things like having to type in the same contact person over and over for different children. There should be an option to add a new person or add an existing person to a pickup list. Also, I don't understand why the online payments don't get posted to the Ledger. If they pay with a credit card online I still have to manually add it to the Ledger so they can see that they paid for tuition. In the program we used last year it showed up automatically. One more thing, when a child is checked in/out or signed in/out for attendance, is there a way for the name of that child to be a different color or something when they are in or out. Sometimes teachers can't remember if a student was checked in or not, so they do it again, but this signs the student out. Then they have to do it again to sign them in again. If there was a way for the students' names to look different (like a different color) when they are signed in then it would be very helpful. Thank you.

Pros

This software helps us organize our student and parent population. We keep track of attendance and grading which allows us to print out report cards and keep grading information on gradelink.com. We can keep track of student alumni so we can keep in touch. We also are able to use the system to keep in touch with potential families who are looking for quality education. Customer service is fabulous! Every time I call with a question they help me in a friendly manner and solve my problem. We use the system keep track of hours at the Preschool and aftercare and thus are able to quickly see who may owe for such services.

Cons

They are still developing some aspects so sometimes a feature is not yet available. Such as last year we were looking at the sign in/out feature but it was not ready. This year we are using it!

Pros

Love that we can mass email, individuals or whole grades. Gradelink is user friendly, everything is in one place. There are a lot of tools that parents can use to access grades, assignments, teacher's pages, and now we've set it up for discipline. (instead of using a separate program) Parents also have input on community service hours, we can add ACT/SAT scores to transcripts, too.

Cons

That the "Not Re-enrolled" button doesn't work. It just gives all students, instead of the ones not re-enrolled.
Teachers not having the ability to send a text for their classes. - So, they have to use "Remind"

Pros

We really trust Gradelink, as they previously hosted our old site and always do a great job with our school package we have through them. Since we knew we were overdue for an updated website, it was an automatic choice for us to ask Gradelink to handle the design. We are so thrilled with our new website! It is so much cleaner, fresher, user-friendly, precise and engaging. Vince helped us take the next best steps and continues to assure us beyond the finished product, which demonstrates outstanding customer service. Rep was absolutely phenomenal! So very patient, detail-oriented, honest, attentive and kind he went above and beyond to make sure we were satisfied with the final product and that we felt comfortable to collaborate and share our ideas and needs during the building process. Our site needed so much work, and he was always very gracious in our planning meetings. His expertise was so evident and he worked extremely hard to ensure our satisfaction. Genuine excitement about our website project was also evident and helped spur us along when we needed to envision our future site. We are so grateful for Rep and Gradelink!

Cons

Everyone on our team isn't super "techy" so there will be a learning curve. However, we are glad that we can utilize the monthly support that Gradelink offers.

Pros

I love how easy it is to set up and use. The user interface is very easy to get staff to buy into using. We had tried a different product first and it was just too much for my users.

I am very happy with the reliability of Gradelink. We have been using it for a number of years and Gradelink has been down less than 5 times. Ever. Wish I could say the same about our internal network!

I am very pleased with support. Everybody is friendly and responsive. Problems large and small have been handled as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Cons

The stuff that is missing like:
historical student census data -- how many in each class last year, 3 years ago? how many re-enrolled this year compared to last three years? etc.
seating chart with pictures report
different attendance reports (monthly for National School Lunch)
more financial report options
ability to enter the school calendar and have attendance automatically marked NS for those days.
Little stuff that annoys but doesn't really prevent me from accomplishing what I need to.

Pros

Ease of sending communications to parents, staff, and students.
Improvements are being made all the time and Gradelink staff is always willing to help find solutions to problems.

Cons

Lesson plans are not accessible to old terms that have been closed.
Attachments sent in emails are not accessible.

Pros

Software is easy to navigate and switch to. Help section is actually helpful. I almost never have to call or chat with anyone at Gradelink.

Cons

No way to print a paper copy of contract, except by screen shots.

Pros

As I was working on transcripts for my high school students, the online tutorials provided information for me to enter information from a previous information system.

Cons

When I resolved one problem the Midterm and final exam gpas appear to not have been averaged correctly in their respective column.

Pros

Gradelink is a comprehensive program and that is why support is so very important. That is what I like most about Gradelink, its support.

Cons

Gradelink might benefit from a few extras to make it even better such as adding transcript options for grammar schools k-12 that allow for 2 page transcripts to show grades through all the grades. Or changing a teacher for a given grade or set of classes that would automatically replace all the classes the old teacher had with the new one automatically...

Pros

It's ease of use and powerful application.

Cons

It doesn't have a teacher app. I would also like to be able to enter value-free data that's only applicable to the teacher.

Pros

Customer service is AWESOME. Our rep is always happy to help us. This program has a plethora of functions, some I'm still learning! But what a great program with so, so many functions.

Cons

Some things are not quite as intuitive as I would like them to be. Occasionally I'm just frustrated and have to pick up the phone to call our rep. He's wonderfully helpful, but I do wish some things were a bit more intuitive.

Pros

I appreciate the ease in which to utilize Gradelink. Very user friendly!

Cons

I keep track of all employee absences. The last system we used I was able to click on the employees name and ALL absences and tardies would be listed. This was a great feature. One click on a report like this would be very helpful.

Pros

I like how easy it is to use. We often have new teaching staff and I don't have to explain much because the format speaks for itself. Also very easy for parents to access and use, the family log in is a great addition as we have many students with siblings.

Cons

At this time I don't have anything I dislike about the program.

Pros

This is the first time our school as had a software program and this is the first time I had to implement and oversee a program and I found this one to be user friendly. I would recommend it for sure.

Cons

There are a few reports and areas that cant be separated such as past transcripts from current ones.

Pros

I have used Gradelink as an administrator, as a a parent, and as a teacher, it is easy to use, you can input or view as much information as you need. It has improved over time, I first used it in 2009. The customer service is great, always respond and solve issues, they are friendly and knowledgeable.

Cons

The it doesn’t do standard based grading.

Pros

Gradelink allows ease of use and flexibility. This year, families will even be able to access their tuition bills and set up payment.
Gradelink give our teachers a way to see everything they need at a glance.

Cons

Gradelink does not offer a way for teachers to create class level scoring sheets that are printable. This would be a HUGE help.

Pros

The fact that parents have all information necessary in one location is very beneficial. There is no need to seek out several sites, so questions are answered quickly.

Cons

Some adjustments do take awhile to implement. We need to customize some of the programs to our particular site needs.

Pros

The software is easy to use as long as you are able to have someone like [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] guiding through the process.

Cons

Since I'm beginning to learn a little more of the software, I can not make an accurate comment about what I dislike least about the software.

Pros

The program is very easy to use. It provides a platform for parents to easily access students grades and then communicates with the teacher if they want to follow up on an assessment. Parents know what is the value of an assessment and when they are scheduled.

Cons

I am not sure if this is possible, but I would like a way to average say quizzes to create 1 major assessment grade. I know I can weigh them less, but parents and students don't always understand the weighting process and if conditions change during the semester, it is difficult to re-do the process.

Pros

It is great having all the information in one location (student, parent, medical, academic, etc.) It was easy to transition to Gradelink. The Re-enroll feature is great and easy to use.

Cons

It is difficult to tell parents where they can find information because their access is different from mine.

Pros

It's comprehensive. It serves as our online gradebook, school communication system, and student information system.

Cons

I don't think you should have to pay extra money to schedule an email as opposed to sending it right away. That feature should have been provided for free and not as an add on.

Pros

Ease of use and quality of the program. This program makes my life and the life of the teachers so much easier. We love this program and our parents do as well.

Cons

I do not feel that there is anything extra that Gradelink could add at this time that would make the program any better. I feel that Gradelink makes updates and improves the program on a regular basis.

Pros

Rep helped me today solve several concerns. All the customer support folks at Gradelink are so helpful and are patient and nice on the phone. As a new user it is nice to know good, friendly help in a phone call away!

Cons

There are some feature enhancements I think could me made. As users we know what particular items we are needing on a day-to-day basis. So hopefully Gradelink has the resources to make some of those feature improvements/enhancements that will make a users job easier.Great

Pros

I have been using this software for about 15 years when it started out as only a gradebook. I have implemented Gradelink in numerous school settings and have seen it grown into what it is today. I love the ease of use, the neatness of reports, and the additional features they have added since I first used them.

Cons

No Pre-Order Lunch option and how terms are set up when using lesson plans. Parents need to click too many buttons if you have two quarters active at one time.

Pros

Easy to use, continues to improve and upgrade, excellent customer support.

Cons

Some of the training videos could be updated to reflect newer features.