Gradelink

Pros

Gradelink is a very innovative platform that has simplified workflow for school managers and teachers as well improved transparent communication between educators and parents. Among the main features I love include the fact that it is cloud-based, making it accessible from anywhere, enabling users to perform their daily duties on the go. Secondly, teachers are saved a lot of time on lesson planning, add assignments, homework and learning exercises without worrying about school system standard to use. Additionally, the software had gradebook are generously available and integrates with lesson plans and report card features. Another outstanding feature is the discipline feature which allows administrators to track negative and positive behaviors, add or remove credits, and focus on each student's academic goals. Parents can also access this information and can monitor their children's behavior and contribute actively by supporting teachers. Last but not the least is the various reports that can be accessed from a single platform in no time. Whether its on attendance, registers, medical records, enrollment level etc, Gradelink has all the information at hand for either administrators, parents, students and all relevant users. Finally, I love the fact that Payment processing and billing is integrated within the software, making it easy for parents to settle their dues.

Cons

Overall, it is a life saving software but it may be pricy for a small school that attempts to increase enrollment and all.

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!

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Gradelink

Pros

Transcripts are easy to find and save as a pdf.

Cons

The calendar needs to be visible on the app. We really needs parents to be able to subscribe to the school calendar. It's synced from gradelink to our gradelink website, but parents really do need to have the ability to then subscribe to the calendar so the info can go directly to their phone calendars.

Pros

Kind, patient, and helpful customer service that responds in a timely manner.
Gradelink help site offers a ton of information and tutorials. Most components are intuitive.

Cons

Billing tab on the parent app can be a bit confusing when there are multiple sessions. Parents were unable to pay through app, but were able to through web browser.

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.