Alma SIS

Glad we're using Alma

Puntos a favor:

Unlike other SIS's, Alma actually looks and feels like it was made in the 2010's. The system is solid, and has essentially every feature a smaller school like ours would want (and many more that we don't need to use). The gradebook is excellent, and it's easy to transfer classes and students from year-to-year. Their customer service has been great (we accidentally deleted multiple report cards in different places the other day and they quickly and helpfully solved our issue by restoring to a backup), and they are continually adding features and improving the platform. And the cost has been at least 50% less than quotes we were getting from major competitors. Many reasons to switch to Alma.

Puntos en contra:

The latest transcripts update was helpful - there are still a couple of features we'd like on the transcripts front, but that's mostly because our school has a unique curriculum. This is totally just a personal preference, but I'd also like to be able to search for classes in the search feature in addition to contacts.

Alma Software Review (SBG school)

Comentarios: Support has been very helpful, typically it seems we have questions that either haven't been asked before or are not implemented yet. Faculty/staff is able to access the reports tab which helps them track students and contacts quickly and has access to student records and class schedules.

Puntos a favor:

Alma is easier than our former software and allows us to use our Standards Based Grading which is our priority. Parents were able to quickly learn how to use the system and the attendance feature is great. Students were also able to learn the system and although it doesn't have a comprehensive calendar with their schedules and our school activities, they were able to use the daily tab to track their classes.

Puntos en contra:

The calendar is static and unable to be exported to phones/other calendars so we had to create an app for that. The reports are not as in-depth as needed and we aren't able to save our filters/criteria that we use often. They are still working on SBG reporting so many items we aren't able to track as we typically do through reports. The report card set up is limited for what we need in our report cards; we had to use every work-around to get a report card as we needed, but they do work now.

Alternativas consideradas: PraxiSchool y Schoology

Razones para elegir Alma SIS: K-12 was trying to start Standards Based Grading but didn't meet our deadline.

Software anterior: Blackbaud K-12 Solutions

Razones para cambiar a Alma SIS: It has what we needed for Standard Based Grading both in assignments and report cards for tracking.

Used for an elementary, has great services, could be improved.

Puntos a favor:

I LOVE the customer service. They are always willing to work with us and help us adapt the program to what we need. I love the many different reporting features and how they each have a unique description that helps me find exactly what I need. I also like that I can star the reports I frequently use. I like that I am able to easily fill in grades in the "gradebook" tab, as well as having the opportunity to quickly report final grades at the end of the term. I am also happy with the ease in resetting a password for a user who has forgotten theirs as well as the quick ability to change a username. I appreciate that many users can have access to the same information (meaning a student and both of their parents can have their own accounts but access the same information on their child). I think overall I am mostly impressed with Alma's support team, how quickly and professionally they respond, how they will not let me leave the conversation until they are satisfied that all of my questions have been answered and my concerns resolved, and I love that they are constantly updating, making the website better, and then sending out an email with all of the updates and detailed instructions on how to utilize them.

Puntos en contra:

I feel the website could be slightly more user friendly. There are often times it takes longer than I would like to access the information that I need (a lot of clicking through redundant tabs and not a lot of short cuts). I also wish it was easier for parents to understand the website. I don't like that there is no easy way for a parent to access a student's missing work, instead having to look through each class and assignment to see what has and has not been turned in. I also wish there was a way for us, as administrators and teachers, to see exactly what the parents see. It is hard to give advice and support to a parent when their screen looks different from mine; and I often don't know if they can see everything that I can, like all of the notes and assignment descriptions and what not. Otherwise, I am mostly happy with Alma.

Great Customer Support

Comentarios: We have really enjoyed the experience with ALMA. The support staff are very friendly, and if they don't have a solution to an issue, they work hard to find one. They are open to requesting additional options or features they may not currently have available. This makes me feel that they truly want to improve their product. We are very new to using ALMA, but they have proved so far that we made a good choice.

Puntos a favor:

I don't have a lot to compare ALMA to, but I feel that the user interface is very intuitive. After light training, I felt that I was able to navigate the software with ease, and perform many of the functions without having to struggle to do so. The resources for questions called the "study guide" has really good searchable articles and videos that addressed almost every issue I had. If I couldn't find the answer, the support staff was quick to respond and help with a solution.

Puntos en contra:

Education is so vastly different from one school to the next. On the similar needs of schools I think ALMA performs great, but for specific needs or differences they struggle to meet all our needs. Many times we have to find a work-around for issues we are having. I will add that this is very rare. A specific example is that we can search students by grade. We can search specific classes, but not the whole grade. There are times it would be beneficial to see all the students in one grade.

Alternativas consideradas: Sycamore School y FACTS

Razones para elegir Alma SIS: It was very difficult to use. We had to pay for help every time we had an issue. The reports never looked the way we wanted. It did not handle standards based grading well, and trying to have both standards base with traditional grading was practically impossible without some major programing knowledge. The list goes on, but these were some of our main concerns.

Software anterior: Sycamore School y FACTS

Razones para cambiar a Alma SIS: - I think the look was more updated - parent perception of quality - Standard or Traditional grading supported - Communication from the console - I'm not sure if the others did this, but it has been very helpful - Customer Support - the reviews on this was a big reason for choosing ALMA

Excellent, Comprehensive, and EASY TO USE

Comentarios: This has made running our school so much easier. I am so glad we switched from the old software.

Puntos a favor:

We moved from PowerSchool to ALMA and it is sooooo much better! Everything is intuitive. No paying for extra training for everything. No extra modules being hawked to you every month. No need to pay for someone to "maintain" the software. It isn't some old Database software that you need to learn equations for. It looks wonderful, is easy to use, and super adaptable. All of the new additions that you get charged for with other software are free updates with ALMA. If you do have a problem, ALMA *wants* to hear from you! It's an entirely different relationship. And it has more features. Because it is a modern piece of software and not something based off of antiquated 90's era software, there are more bells and whistles. New options are being added every couple of months. Often based on what the users have asked for. This makes my job 100% easier!

Puntos en contra:

Some things are still a little complicated but it comes with online instructions to help you along.