Skyward Student Management Suite Reviews

It has a comprehensive set of features that allow student management. From the teacher side the data is fairly easy to view and input of the gradebook and attendance is relatively easy.

It is somewhat difficult to learn. There are many variables that can confuse teachers in creating gradebooks and in accessing information. The reports are not particularly intuitive to use.

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.

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.

That I can check my childs grades when I can get into the system

Every other month I am being told on the app that my password expired and to use a desktop to reset my password. I go to my desktop and it tells me my password is no good to the point where I get locked out. Then I have to contact my school and have them send me a new password reset link. I never saw a software package that didn't give the users the option of selecting "Forgot Password" or "Reset Password" feature. The company says this is for security while they don't even have an option for two factor authentication. How about bringing your code out of the 1900's and creating an option where a school doesn't need 2500 parents contacting them every time they need to change the password!

This is an extremely powerful suite of software. Once you learn the basic interface (which takes quite a while) you can get more and more useful data out of the system.

The learning curve is steep. I've been using this program for 15 years and am still improving my skills. Many of the reports are hard to read and simply ugly. I shouldn't have to have my tech department use Crystal Reports (which I don't have access to and don't know how to use) to get something that looks professional. It needs to include a publishing tool similar to Microsoft Publisher (NOT Word!) so that I can design things easier. The report designer is terrible. It is cumbersome and not at all intuitive.

We use this software daily and I like the idea of a gradebook that is on-line to report grades virtually, especially with the changes in our world.

Difficult to use, not really user friendly (or teacher friendly rather) for the lower grades. I found that many upper elementary, middle school or high school enjoyed it and used it in so many other ways. We currently only use it to report attendance, grades and scan school entry documents. I am sure there are many other features that this platform offers.

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.

There is nothing I dislike about this software.

This is a fantastic way to keep abreast of your child's grades with individual test breakups and overall grade average with the allowance for teachers to add notes for the parents if needed. Also provides a way to email and contact the teacher.

There's nothing I don't like about the software. Overall great communication tool between a teacher and student's parents.

Skyward is a "one stop shop" for teachers. Student information can be quickly accessed through Skyward. Teachers use Skyward for attendance, grades, and student information.

Some of the grade book setting can be a learning curve, but not very difficult to figure out.

This is a really easy program to use for grading students. I also use the program to create online tests.

I can make seating charts with this program, but it does not allow me to print them off as a full page. I have had out IT guy look at this, but we cannot figure out how to do it.

This product is so easy to use once you get the hang of it! It's a great way to keep all of your students information in one place. You can take lunch count, keep account balances, and more. It's great to have all the information in one place.

It's confusing to navigate when you first get started. Once you get the hang of it it gets easy.

Skyward makes it easy for parents to track their kids' attendance and grades. This has been especially important during the pandemic because the kids have been learning from home for more than a year. When my stepdaughter started slacking off and not logging in to her synchronous classes, we found out very quickly by tracking her attendance through Skyward. This allowed us to address the issue right away, before she missed tons of class and fell really far behind. Similarly, it is easy to see the kids' grades. I know right away if assignments are missing, if they turn in incomplete work, or if they don't do well on a project/test/homework. That way, we can work with them to improve their grades right away rather than waiting until they've fallen so far behind that they can't bring their grades up.

It isn't always intuitive to use. When you click on "Gradebook," you get an error message that says "Not available when viewing all students." The first time I logged in, I had a hard time figuring out how to view the kids' grades. The menu to select a specific student is hidden at the top of the screen, whereas all the other menus are on the left. It took me forever to find it. Once you figure it out, it's easy -- but the first time, I struggled when trying to access grades.

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

None!

Skyward keeps all of the records and any information that you can possibly want to report, accessible at your fingertips.

The annual cost is a little much, not sure how it compares to other school softwares. It takes some training to use. If you know computers and how they work, it will be a snap. I did not find it very intuitive.

I like that I can mark all students present with one click. You can set up seating chart attendance with or without pictures. It can average grades for you. You can see if parents have accessed their child's profiles.

This is not user friendly and requires training. If staff is not trained (I was not) it leads to a great deal of frustration.

The grade calculation and attendance parts work well. The custom reports are nice to save for the future.

The system isn't as user friendly as I hoped. Many connectivity issues with Canvas, this causes true have issues importing and exporting grade.

I love all the different reports and features that Skyward has. It takes much of the work off of teachers.

It is not very user friendly. Due to the fact that there are so many features, it is difficult to maneuver through everything to find what you need. Basic training is very helpful.

I like the ability to run student report data for large sets of students.

I find Skyward to be very difficult to use. After working with this software daily for two years I feel as though I have no independent skill. Nothing about this product is intuitive. I do not feel as though this is a user friendly tool and I feel as though there may be better tools for districts to use for their student management.

I love that I can easily access information about all of my students in one location. From parent contact info to the student's transcripts, I have easy access to anything I might need.

There is nothing that I do not like about the software. It is super user-friendly and easy to use.

I enjoy using this software because I get to track my children's grades and progress daily! Report cards and progress reports are posted on here as well, so if my child ever "forgets" to bring it home, I can always look it up

There is nothing about the Skyward application that I do not like. Everything about it is easy to use!

What I like most about Skyward is that it offers many types of reports that can be printed out or shared online. Data can be accessed by parents any time of day and they are able to ask questions through the program.

I haven't found a need that is not met by this software.

Skyward has many features & can be accessed on any device pretty much.

The ability to have buttons to go to next page on the screen- Many times this some how not happening. All options aren't able to be clicked or saved. You have to fill out forms multiple times. Gradebook format gets thrown off. Needs to be easier to use even after 12 years having to use it.

Skyward has a simple interface and is easy to navigate. It auto signs out in case of in-activity which prevents others from viewing your account.

The calendar design doesn't help view tasks and often times it won't sync with other school managing apps.

I love being able to log in and see how my child is doing in high school by each class. You can see missing assignments, test scores and quizzes. The teachers and the school can also contact me through skyward.

It can be confusing to use when you first start using it, but it gets easier and easier the more you use it.

Fairly easy to for employees for time sheets, request time off, payroll information and history.
Employees can see payroll, time sheets, and personal records.
Request reimbursement for expenses.
Admin uses it for record keeping of employee information

The steps to request expense reimbursement is lengthy and not easy for employees that use it occassionally.

I like that I can see my students attendance and grades and I can change my information on there. I also like that there are links to district sites and information that I need.

It isn't designed for ease of use. I also don't like that I cannot add funds onto my student's account through the app alone, I need to go to a third party website to add funds. I also don't like that I cannot pay fees on the app, and then when I go to the website I still have to use a third party site to pay my fees.