PowerSchool Reviews

PowerSchool

4.4 (174)
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Leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 educatio

Overall rating

4.4 /5
(174)
Value for Money
4.2/5
Features
4.2/5
Ease of Use
4.1/5
Customer Support
4.1/5

86%
recommended this app
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174 Reviews

Andrew
Andrew
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

More than a Gradebook

Reviewed on 2020/06/26

Overall I could not imagine grading without Powerschool, it makes it easier for administration,...

Overall I could not imagine grading without Powerschool, it makes it easier for administration, staff, students, and parents to quickly see grades and other relevant information.

Pros

Powerschool managements student grades, but it also houses scheduling and demographic information so we can have in depth information on each student in one place.

Cons

Powerschool is web based and has a normal link but also a Pro version integrated that is a web app. These has more or less the same features so it would be nice to see these consolidated.

Chad
Chad
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Awesome App

Reviewed on 2019/04/13

Pros

The ability to keep an eye on your kids his studies

Cons

Really difficult to point out a negative with this.

amber
Overall rating
  • Industry: Accounting
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

Utter Garbage

Reviewed on 2023/10/05

I can't log in through the app and when I do, it is non-functional. When I try to use the website,...

I can't log in through the app and when I do, it is non-functional. When I try to use the website, the login page just leads to the FAQ page and there is no way to log in.

Pros

The concept of this app is great. The execution of it falls extremely short.

Cons

I don't know what is worse, this app or the fact that my school district REQUIRES it's use for students to work in any online capacity.

Eric
Eric
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Parents View

Reviewed on 2018/11/20

Love it, makes tracking my children's school experience much easier.

Love it, makes tracking my children's school experience much easier.

Pros

I love that I can see my son's school progress and if he's in class or not. It also lets me know if assignments are missing, wow! I can also track if I need to update funds for his meal plan or other school bills.

Cons

I wish it would allow you to send messages to the teachers or scan documents that the school needed.

Jennifer
Jennifer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Government Administration
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

PowerSchool is an excellet resource!

Reviewed on 2019/05/23

Pros

I have used this software for years to keep up with my children's attendance and grades. This software is an excellent resource for parents. I considered myself lucky that our local school system makes this available to all students and parents!

Cons

I feel that it times you out a little too quickly and you have to log back in which is aggravating but overall not too bad.

Mark
Mark
Overall rating
  • Industry: Higher Education
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 6.0 /10

As a parent this tool is challenging

Reviewed on 2018/11/20

I am hoping for a single pane of glass that I can see what I need to be concerned with as a parent...

I am hoping for a single pane of glass that I can see what I need to be concerned with as a parent helping my students.

Pros

I like being able to see the grades, attendance and status of my students. It is much easier if you have only one to deal with.

Cons

The software may be really good but the implementation by our school district is challenging. I never been able to get all of my children onto the tool and each teacher uses it differently. It is near impossible to get a good feeling of the progression of my children.

Shanta
Shanta
Overall rating
  • Industry: Apparel & Fashion
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 5.0 /10

Keeps parents informed

Reviewed on 2019/03/01

Pros

My son transitioned from Homeschool to Public school, upon registering him I was given a laptop. The laptop has all the student information and apps needed for e-learning, tracking, and teacher-parent communication. This software and login information was taught before taking the laptop home. I can find attendance and monitor his grades so I know when he may try to fib when I ask about his grades/test scores. Homework assignments are available also, I try to help as much as I can with those. If I am stuck, I contact his teacher. I check daily for her comments.

Cons

I like the software, it is provided at cost by his education institution. It helps me keep up with my teen.

Adam
Adam
Overall rating
  • Industry: Legal Services
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Our School Switched and the App Rocks

Reviewed on 2018/11/25

It is great to keep parents engaged.

It is great to keep parents engaged.

Pros

I love the fact that it has push notifications as grades are entered. As teachers are entering grades the parents get a push notification. You can see at any given moment how your student is doing. Also, from the teacher side they make it as easy as possible to enter grades. The site is always up and responsive.

Cons

I'm sure it cost the district a pretty penny but it is good software. It can be a little confusing fir first time aprents when adding a new child to the software. Once you get past the on boarding and encorouge app usage it is good.

Terran
Terran
Overall rating
  • Industry: Research
  • Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

Great for students and teachers

Reviewed on 2020/01/17

It was easy to use and made it easy to find what I wanted.

It was easy to use and made it easy to find what I wanted.

Pros

I like how easy it was stay updated on my progress as a student. It makes grades and assignments easy to find and allows great feedback from teachers.

Cons

When compared to other school software, it seems to a be a bit lacking in features that I am now used to.

Michael
Michael
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 201–500 Employees
  • Used for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 5.0 /10

A Solid Contender

Reviewed on 2019/12/05

Powerschool provides a functional way for teachers and administrators to record various elements of...

Powerschool provides a functional way for teachers and administrators to record various elements of the student experience. Its interface is lacking and not very intuitive on the whole.

Pros

PowerSchool provides a range of record-keeping and communication options for managing classrooms and institutions. It is particularly strong in terms of grading and attendance.

Cons

The interface is rather primitive and not as intuitive as other record-keeping solutions or programs. It also does not compare to more established players in the field.

Chris
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

PowerSchool is effective and user-friendly!

Reviewed on 2023/05/12

I've had a very positive experience with PowerSchool. It's easy to submit daily attendance and...

I've had a very positive experience with PowerSchool. It's easy to submit daily attendance and create seating charts. It's user friendly and fairly simple to navigate. I can quickly find contact information regarding parents and guardians. It's a terrific resource for our school district!

Pros

We utilize PowerSchool to take attendance daily. This is the system used for our official grades at school. This is incredibly helpful when looking up emergency contact info, birthdates, seating charts, etc.

Cons

There are so many features that I am still learning about, and I've yet to come across something that I do not like about PowerSchool.

Danielle
Overall rating
  • Industry: Primary/Secondary Education
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Great way to keep track of grades

Reviewed on 2023/01/21

Overall, I enjoy PowerSchool and use it with easy daily in my classroom.

Overall, I enjoy PowerSchool and use it with easy daily in my classroom.

Pros

PowerSchool is easy to use and overall very user-friendly. It is easy to input grades and export data. I like using PowerSchool.

Cons

Some information is not easily accessible unless you are an administrator. Some of the older teachers struggle with using the technology.

Ticia
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 5,001–10,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

The Worst Report Card Software - Ever!

Reviewed on 2022/10/27

Frustrating and infuriating. This program is way too complex for people that do not have a computer...

Frustrating and infuriating. This program is way too complex for people that do not have a computer background or a programming background. It was not designed for the end-user in mind. For that reason, it should not be used in elementary school.

Pros

Absolutely nothing. Myself and my colleagues are literally typing our report cards in word documents or Google docs and copying and pasting them into this program because we have no other choice. See below

Cons

This software is so difficult to use. PowerSchool owned our previous software which was user friendly and specific to the needs of Ontario teachers… then they decided to stop supporting that program and encouraged our board to go with this new program. First, everything is in a very small font. The ‘comment’ window that you type in is in a black background making it equally difficult to see. The comment window does not expand to the whole screen…it might expand to 30% of the screen, which means you can never view your whole comment while you are working. There is no way to quickly preview what you were typing or to see if you have enough room for the comment. Everything in the drop-down menus is in code and not in user-friendly recognizable words. My report cards have now taken an extra 50 hours and I’ve only got through five kids with 21 more to go. Also there was no training provided for teachers beyond watching a one hour webinar. I’ve read other peoples reviews and it seems like there was lots of training involved. Quite frankly there are way too many things in this program that do not and would not be used by a classroom teacher.

Judy
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Easy transition

Reviewed on 2018/11/29

My school loves using PowerSchool. It is so versatile. Every level teacher can use the program. My...

My school loves using PowerSchool. It is so versatile. Every level teacher can use the program. My work is in the office and I managed the program by inputting the students, setting up the classes and did the rollover each year. I enjoyed learning every part of the program. It was a rewarding challenge. It was a pleasure to introduce the staff to PowerSchool.

Pros

I LOVED the videos that trained me in every step as I was in charge of the transition to PowerSchool for our school. I worked with our contact from PowerSchool who walked me through the data set up and transfer of our students information. Working with her was very helpful, but for the fine tuning I returned over and over to the videos to reinforce knowledge of the program. I loved turning around and training the schools staff in the use of PowerSchool by being able to tell them specifically which videos applied to them so they were brought up to speed very quickly, then if they had the desire they could go on to learn more. Each teacher was able to do the minimum required by our board and many of the younger teachers delved in even further for a more robust experience.

Cons

The process of beginning our school on PowerSchool was a bit difficult because the consultant assigned to my school seemed to make assumptions maybe based on other schools she had worked with? This was done without my input which resulted in my needing to go in and hand make some changes int eh initial data transfer which took a large amount of time.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Great option for districts!

Reviewed on 2018/09/27

Great to use, countless features, up-to-date, etc. I highly recommend it!

Great to use, countless features, up-to-date, etc. I highly recommend it!

Pros

PowerSchool is a phenomenal option for managing student data. Here are the pros I see with the software:
- easy-to-use for newcomers
- tons of features and layers of data management
- great customer support and help videos. They even offer a site where you can make suggestions and upvote ideas that could be released in future updates.
- updated, web-based gradebook platform
- really just a great one-stop-shop for almost all of your SIS needs

Cons

They have gone through some major updates, which thew some people for a loop, but I think they were needed and necessary. I do not have any major complaints really.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Powerful School Management System

Reviewed on 2020/07/20

Overall it functions well as a system for teachers, staff, students, and parents to share informatio...

Overall it functions well as a system for teachers, staff, students, and parents to share information.

Pros

Although there is a learning curve to the software, once the user has mastered the elements that are most used, it is a pretty good interface. Demographics, attendance, grades, discipline and other alerts such as medical and legal are quick few click from any screen.

Cons

There is a learning curve and it can take awhile to get used to. It is also confusing to perform certain actions that are only done a few times a year (finalizing grades).

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Higher Education
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Easy to Use, Super Helpful Tool

Reviewed on 2019/05/24

Educational record-keeping and communication

Educational record-keeping and communication

Pros

As a student user of this software, it was incredible helpful. More than anything, I just loved how it was a a nice and basic layout but also afforded users the opportunity to add notes, comments, and other things of that nature. It was also nice that there were distinctly different views/options for students, parents, and instructors.

Cons

In the 4+ years that I used PowerSchool, I never once encountered any issues. It's wonderful.

Dylan
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

Powerschool meets needs but could be better

Reviewed on 2019/03/24

Does what it needs to and nothing more. Has induced its fair share of frustration with slow...

Does what it needs to and nothing more. Has induced its fair share of frustration with slow performance. If I had a choice, we would use something else for grade books.

Pros

Daily functionality is decent. It is an ol system for attendance, seating charts, looking up student information, etc. The in-browser functions are simple and straight forward generally. Clean interface, streamlined user experience.

Cons

Powerschool can be buggy. Some features are slow or have issues working consistently. Biggest gripe - the grade book function. It is very slow, cluttered, and can be a pain to use. Interface cannot be customized which leads to lots of unnecessary buttons. Lots of issues connecting with servers. Does not work when there are issues with internet connectivity. Needs features like building reports for student groups, assignments, progression/growth, etc.

Ingemar
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

PowerSchool - Dated Software

Reviewed on 2021/02/03

It was difficult to use and often disrupted our day to day functions instead of improving them. ...

It was difficult to use and often disrupted our day to day functions instead of improving them. The amount of training needed was too much and too often. It is definitely not cutting edge.

Pros

It is used by an immense amount of schools and school districts. It has a lot of features and components.

Cons

It is like the database programs from the 80's and 90's. It has survived so long by integrating itself so deeply into so many schools. The reason it is popular is only because it is irreplaceable in these large, districts.

The cost is exorbitant. The features often cost more to add on. Even normal, everyday procedures can be difficult and need training. Training is farmed out to businesses that charge even more money.

It has a very old interface. Nothing is graphical or visually pleasing. Often you must learn old database terms and codes to affect changes in the software.

With the amount of money they must be making, you would think they would create a new product that is easy to use, easy on the eyes, etc. But I guess then they wouldn't be able to charge all the extra fees to learn how to use it.

Alternatives Considered

Gradelink

Reasons for Switching to PowerSchool

It was decided by my predecessor
Steve
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

PowerSchool

Reviewed on 2019/05/14

Pros

PowerSchool is an excellent product that provides all the needed features for any sized school. Assignments can be made and copied across courses. The grade book has multiple views to facilitate grading including assignment view, spreadsheet view, or Categories view. Grades can also be viewed by student as well. There is also a progress monitoring tool and can run various reports based on variety of inputs. Overall, PowerSchool more than covers the basics needed within a classroom and contains many advanced options for experienced users.

Cons

Without direct assistance, learning the features that a school district requires can be daunting. PowerSchool has many help options, but sometimes that are not the best learning tool when trying to learn a brand new system. Older teachers who relied on a paper grading system may struggle switching to a complex digital system such as PowerSchool.

Richard
Overall rating
  • Industry: Computer Software
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Great for keeping track of grades

Reviewed on 2020/02/24

I really love PowerSchool. I think this should be a requirement for all school districts since the...

I really love PowerSchool. I think this should be a requirement for all school districts since the parents will always know what's going on. You even get notifications if the kids are marked absent. I absolutely love this program.

Pros

Powerschool is am amazing product. I love how you can keep track of the kid's grades in real time and how it shows you their upcoming assignments. The software is so great that our school district stopped using paper report cards and now use Powerschool.

Cons

The only complaint that I have is really more of a suggestion than a complaint. I wish they had a system integrated with school lunches where you can use Powerschool to reload the kid's lunch account. This would eliminate having to use two apps.

John
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 6.0 /10

PowerSchool: There HAS to be a better way

Reviewed on 2020/11/20

At the outset, it was very difficult but, like with anything, once you get the hang of it, you...

At the outset, it was very difficult but, like with anything, once you get the hang of it, you learn to live with it. If there is ever a time when one pines for the good old days of keeping a paper "grade book", you have to know that something is amiss.

Pros

It certainly is speedier to put in grades and create lesson and project listings online, however, the setup at the beginning of each semester is a slog. I don't understand why we can't just continue our settings until we wish to change them.

Cons

As I've mentioned previously, the setup of our classes cannot be continued from semester to semester and the setup is rather onerous. Printing reports, whether it deals with grading or attendance, is ridiculous.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

PowerSchool is a good tool for tracking my children's school activity.

Reviewed on 2018/06/05

PowerSchool was a helpful tool for tracking my students' progress in school.

PowerSchool was a helpful tool for tracking my students' progress in school.

Pros

I like PowerSchool's functionality, and being able to follow my children's grades, attendance, etc.

Cons

There were issues with getting accounts set up and linked through PowerSchool that made the experience frustrating at first. Not sure if this was a software issue or an administrator issue, but after it was resolved, the platform worked well.

TASHA
Overall rating
  • Industry: Automotive
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Everyone with kiddos should use this software!

Reviewed on 2021/02/19

We can keep up with the kids missing assignments on a daily basis! That makes life beyond a breeze,...

We can keep up with the kids missing assignments on a daily basis! That makes life beyond a breeze, compared to finding out at midterms how they are doing. The ease of talking to teachers, seeing all work that should be in, and all courses being taken with a current schedule is the BEST! THANK YOU FOR MAKING POWERSCHOOL AVAILABLE TO US PARENTS! If you havent tried this software, Please DO! You'll wonder how you went without it, and will Never live without it again!

Pros

The fact that I can see the beat details of Our children's current: Grades, schedules, assignments turned in, and missing assignments is by FAR THE BEST comfort a parent can have on their side! Hard for Us to be blindfolded by our kids when such a great application exists!

Cons

There is nothing I have to say negative about this software whatsoever! Thank you for creating such a thing!

Charlie
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

PowerSchool - A Good SIS Choice

Reviewed on 2021/05/20

We use PowerSchool as our SIS. We're looking in to the PS registration piece and we use a couple...

We use PowerSchool as our SIS. We're looking in to the PS registration piece and we use a couple other modules as well. PowerSchool is extensible with plugins and easily accessible to most third party apps that need data from it, assuming the third party knows what they're doing.

Pros

PowerSchool has improved a LOT in the last few years. The interface is MUCH cleaner and usable, their security focus has shown in many changes we've seen to recent versions, and generally it just works. I've worked long enough with it to know how to troubleshoot most issues. It's actually pretty easy and accessible for us tech folks when dealing with server issues. Our users generally like it.

Cons

Some of the issues that pop up are silly things like services not starting all of the sudden, and it can be very touchy when you need to restart the server it's running on. If you don't shut down the PowerSchool services properly, you can end up with a broken instance.