Alma MIS Reviews
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306 Reviews for UK Users
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 201–500 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Alma the soul of your education
Reviewed on 01/07/2021
For a long school year such as a semester or a full year it has been phenomenal as a portfolio for...
For a long school year such as a semester or a full year it has been phenomenal as a portfolio for classes with my students
Pros
As a teacher I can say that Alma is one of the best virtual classrooms that I have tried, it is an all-in-one and something that I love is the management of evaluations and students without having to resort to any other external platform.
The function that I use the most is evaluative management since right there I can check my lists for the student report card system as well as the grade assigned to the same task and document
Cons
It is difficult to say that Alma has something bad, rather something not so good and that is first-hand integration, but once learned it is phenomenal
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Alma has been transformational
Reviewed on 08/11/2023
Incredible. I was astounded by the amount of support I have received from Alma in setting up,...
Incredible. I was astounded by the amount of support I have received from Alma in setting up, using, and expanding our use of the programs. They meet the needs of our school and help us learn how we can use Alma to its full potential. The customer service team is dedicated to making sure that we are getting the most out of our investment. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Alma.
Pros
We switched to Alma from PowerSchool and it has made a major difference. Alma was able to be set up to match the needs of our school, as opposed to other SIS that we had to work to match their set up. The support from the Alma implementation and customer service teams is unmatched.
Cons
There is little to say in the negative about Alma. Whenever there has been an issue, the customer service team makes a note of it and tracks it as a feedback ticket. I have seen these get passed to their developers and new features have grown out of those. Alma takes their customers' needs seriously and works to create a great product.
Alternatives Considered
MySchoolReasons for Choosing Alma MIS
PowerSchool customer service was terrible. It was a poorly designed product. It did not meet the needs of our school.Reasons for Switching to Alma MIS
One of the major reasons we chose Alma was the Alma Start feature, along with the pricing. Once we got into using it, it was clear we had made the right choice.Response from Alma Technologies
Thank you for your glowing review of Alma! We're delighted to hear about your positive experience and the transformative impact Alma has had on your school. Your acknowledgment of our tailored support, customer service, and the effective transition from PowerSchool is greatly appreciated.
It's rewarding to know our efforts in customization and responsiveness to feedback are making a real difference. The success of features like Alma Start and our approach to meeting your specific needs reaffirms our commitment to excellence.
We're proud to be your chosen SIS and are dedicated to continuously enhancing our services. Your trust in Alma is invaluable, and we look forward to further supporting your school's journey.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 201–500 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 1.0 /10
Alma is not providing teachers with and easy to use platform for grading, attendance, etc.
Reviewed on 23/02/2018
Pros
I like that I can look up any student in our school and see that student's schedule and current information.
Cons
1. Our students (Seniors especially) cannot get their current transcripts. This is troubling for many reasons. Perhaps the most important being their choices for scholarships and higher education will be affected by this. Students cannot apply for financial assistance through scholarships without current transcripts. I have personally spoken with at least three students who have missed out on scholarship opportunities, simply because they cannot access current transcripts.
2. Can't see overall student GPA
3. Can't see student class rank
4. Student Mobile usage is very confusing. Can't see grades the way they should.
5. Ease of access is horrible
6. No mobile app, and mobile website is very difficult to read
7. Not organized well
8. When emailing "all students" I cannot exclude certain classes; I can't email multiple classes at once without including EVERYONE
9. For attendance, it is very confusing. If a student is marked present first class, they are marked present for the entire day. This was clearly set up for use in an Elementary School. High School is different. We need to be able to see where our students are throughout the day.
10. Inputting grades takes many more steps than our previous system. There is no way to toggle between students with the keyboard.
11. There should be a way to block certain people from seeing certain information. At the beginning of the school year, student Social Security Numbers were viewable by any teacher or staff in our building.
Response from Alma Technologies
Below we briefly address each of your concerns. But, because your satisfaction is our starting point, we will also follow-up for a deeper conversation about this. We want you to be elated with Alma!
#1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11) We do provide the functionality you're describing and would love to review each item with you. Based on the information you provided, these concerns may indicate further training is needed. Your Account Manager will be in touch soon or you can always contact us through our in-app support.
#5 and 7) Most of Alma¿s users love our ease-of-use, navigation, and access, but as with all things, we can/will keep getting better. Let¿s discuss further.
#4 and 6) Depending on the phone size and the gradebook in use, the experience for viewing student grades on a phone can be less than ideal. We are actively exploring more options.
#8) Great idea! This is the first time we have heard this, so thank you for bringing it to our attention. Your suggestion has been logged
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
We Love Alma!
Reviewed on 17/07/2024
Overall, our experience has been great! Nothing makes a difference more than an awesome Customer...
Overall, our experience has been great! Nothing makes a difference more than an awesome Customer Support Team and Alma's is beyond compare.
The few cons are not reason enough to switch systems. I am confident that with a little more time Alma will resolve the few features we are missing and they'll be the best SIS on the market! We are happy with Alma and look forward to growing with them!
Pros
Alma is extremely user friendly and has a modern look for parents. We love that they are constantly listening to user feedback and making improvements to the platform. Their customer service teams is one of the best I've ever worked with.
Cons
While they are constantly listening to feedback and making improvements, Alma is still growing. The two areas that we miss functionality are in communications and fees/invoicing (done through Stripe -- you deal with Stripe's support team, not Alma's).
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Great Customer Support
Reviewed on 20/01/2021
We have really enjoyed the experience with ALMA. The support staff are very friendly, and if they...
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.
Pros
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.
Cons
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.
Reasons for Choosing Alma MIS
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.Reasons for Switching to Alma MIS
- 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- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Excellent, Comprehensive, and EASY TO USE
Reviewed on 19/01/2021
This has made running our school so much easier. I am so glad we switched from the old software.
This has made running our school so much easier. I am so glad we switched from the old software.
Pros
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!
Cons
Some things are still a little complicated but it comes with online instructions to help you along.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10
ALMA is what we were looking for....
Reviewed on 07/05/2020
This program has helped our students, staff, and parents utilize one student management system and...
This program has helped our students, staff, and parents utilize one student management system and use it to it's fullest potential. Each people group is able to pull from the system the vital information they need; some need more than others and the program has addressed all levels of information and all levels of user. That was important to us as we needed something that our staff could use to keep track of vital demographics, our teachers could use to track student grades and assignments and yet parents and students could log on and keep track of grades, test assessments and missing assignments. It meets the needs of every level.
Pros
This product is very easy to use, in real time and easy to understand. Novel users can open up this SIS program and navigate in order to find the information they are looking for.
Cons
We were one of the first public schools to sign on with ALMA, therefore we have evolved with the company. There have been some growing pains as we have evolved. The tech support teams have been gracious and very helpful in keeping us up to speed and rolling.
Alternatives Considered
Vision SISReasons for Choosing Alma MIS
SchoolMaster seemed to complicated for our small district. Parents and students seemed to struggle to find the information they needed within the program and often times just wouldn't bother to look as it was frustrating to them.Reasons for Switching to Alma MIS
It seemed very straight forward, easy to use, real-time, easy for our parents, students and staff to use.- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 201–500 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
A solid Student SIS
Reviewed on 28/04/2020
They are a fantastic company with a bright future ahead of them. I'm happy to support them, enjoy...
They are a fantastic company with a bright future ahead of them. I'm happy to support them, enjoy using their product, and appreciate their customer service.
Pros
The main selling point from Alma was the ease of use. Out of all of the systems I've demoed and tried, it was easily the easiest to log in, poke around, and figure out how to do what I needed to do with minimal training.
The second selling point is their customer service. Absolutely top notch. Their people are friendly, very responsive, and (most importantly) humans. I enjoy talking to them! I can usually get a response from a rep within minutes and even our teachers are welcome to message them with questions.
The third selling point is that they are new system with a considerably active development cycle. We knew, going into it, that they wouldn't be as fully fleshed out as competitors like PowerSchool. That also means that it's easier for newer and fresher ideas to be implemented. It's not built on some old archaic database. Many of the features they do have that I use regularly such as the Report Card Builder and the Spreadsheet Data Editor/Report builder are very well done. We regularly get emails about new features being added and they listen to their customers when new features are requested. They've given us a lot of new toys since we first signed on with them.
The final selling point is narwhals.
Cons
Probably the biggest issue that I face regularly is that their district level stuff isn't as fleshed out as I would like it to be. Many of the cool features that are available at each of the schools I manage can't be done in the district portion, aggregating all data and whatnot. I've been told they are working on that stuff though!
Alternatives Considered
PowerSchoolReasons for Choosing Alma MIS
TylerSIS was horrible.Reasons for Switching to Alma MIS
PowerSchool had just released a new HTML5 interface. When asking for a sandbox demo, they couldn't even be bothered to show off their shiny new product. They gave us an old dinosaur of a sandbox that was not appealing at all. Alma whipped us up a sandbox no problem. Some of the fake names of students, teachers, and were hilarious references as well! Also, during the review process, we were using a Powerschool product known as Haiku. One day it went down. The page just wasn't loading. We emailed Powerschool for information and, just as a test, emailed Alma as well. Alma got back to us within 15 minutes. Powerschool got back to us about 2-3 days later. There were a number of other little things like that that swayed our decision.- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10
Ivana B's Review
Reviewed on 20/01/2021
Pros
The software enables us to have all the data related to students, teachers, curriculum and assessment in one place. There are many things that are just "one click" tasks and things don't have to be re-done at the beginning of each school year. They can just be copied, transferred, modified... I also like that there is always a solution to everything, even if an option does not exist in the system, the support team helps find ways to make sure we get what we need.
Cons
There are some things that we would like to have. For example: the option to show attendance on the report card per class (as opposed to per day), or the option to include a digital signature on the cover. These are some tiny things that we have found ways to resolve, but we have communicated them with the support team and we feel confident that they take our feedback into consideration.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 201–500 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Happy we made the switch!
Reviewed on 21/03/2024
So far, very positive - highly recommend.
So far, very positive - highly recommend.
Pros
It is an intuitive student management system, and their customer service can't be beat!
Cons
We would like to get more student information entered via Alma Start to migrate to Alma SIS - I think they are working on these updates though!
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Powerful - 21st Century - Highly Recommended
Reviewed on 27/01/2021
When you have been with company for years is it hard to make a switch. From day one Alma made our...
When you have been with company for years is it hard to make a switch. From day one Alma made our transition to their software painless. Lets face it, people do not like change, especially a secretary that has been here for 30 years. Alma made it easy with their robust training and support our secretaries were smiling "like the butchers dog" The days of our principals spending all summer creating a master schedule are over. Alma's schedule builder is amazing! Overall I would highly recommend Alma and If they continue to stay on the cutting edge of innovation we will never need to make another switch.
Pros
There are so many GREAT features about Alma, to list just one is hard to do. I love the feed back that I receive from parents, teachers and administrators stating what they love about Alma. As an technology administrator you only hear when something is not working. Alma provides so many easy to use features everyone loves it. From the administration scheduling, it's seamless integration with Google Classroom, easy custom reports, on-line student registration and the awesome communication link with parents and students.
Cons
Well there really isn't anything I do not like about Alma, they continually update and add new designs and innovation to it's all inclusive student accounting system. Understandably some suggested features take longer to add then others.
- Industry: Nonprofit Organization Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Best SIS I have used
Reviewed on 06/11/2023
Pros
Alma is so easy to build out and use. They get more and more features every year.....For example, we can now import new student information, and easily run all of our NYS reports. It's really amazing how comprehensive yet seemingly simple Alma is at each user level. I think that because it's on the newer end of student information systems, the interface is just simpler...they don't need to account for decades' worth of data that was entered in a certain way years and years ago.
Cons
The recently changed their customer support to a tiered system, making it more difficult to get answers quickly. That said, the system is simple enough that questions don't come up all that often. Also, they are building out their SFTP capacity, but I wish it could communicate directly with our lottery/enrollment system.
Response from Alma Technologies
Thank you for recognizing Alma as the best SIS you've used! We're delighted to hear about its ease of use and evolving features, like the ability to import student data and generate NYS reports. Your appreciation for Alma's comprehensive, yet simple interface is highly valued.
Regarding customer support, we aim to balance high-quality assistance with efficiency.
Your feedback is crucial, and we are dedicated to continuously refining Alma to serve your needs even better.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
GETALMA for International Schools
Reviewed on 29/04/2020
I’m very satisfied with the overall performance of GetAlma, and I highly recommend it!
I’m very satisfied with the overall performance of GetAlma, and I highly recommend it!
Pros
1) The features that where the most impactful:
-Attendance and Report Cards
2.) Is the product easy to use?
-The learning curve was a little steep in the beginning, but because of fantastic customer support, all concerns were quickly answered and solutions were given/suggested that solved the problems.
3.) Was the integration with your existing business processes easy?
-Teachers found it easy to use overall.
Cons
1.) Are there features you feel are missing or could be improved?
a.) Finer granular control over the lay-outing of the templates.
b.) Ability to add drop-down dates in some places.
c.) Manual inputting of each teacher’s class schedules for all grade levels is tedious. Alma should have a built-in feature of uploading .CSV files for creating and updating class schedules instead of using an optional 3rd party service.
d.) The sandboxed sites for testing the look and feel of creating classes and report cards are geared for US school systems and not for international school systems, and which I did not find very useful.
e.) There should be a feature during the initial set-up of the school year to allow certain weekends that can be ticked-off as part of the school year.
2.) Are there aspects of the product that are difficult to use?
-ALMA Start (for creating online school enrollment forms, online parent info access, etc.) is a little complicated to learn and implement without a sandboxed testing environment when the school year has already started.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Alma Software - The Superstar of Student Information Systems!
Reviewed on 13/03/2019
Pros
Alma's ease of use for all stakeholder is top notch. Teachers, parents, students and office personnel can easily navigate through this platform with minimal clicks, all the tools and information you need as a user are right there in front of you. You no longer have to click 4 layers deep to find what you are looking for. Alma also provides an easy way to communicate with all stakeholders. While in the gradebook you can email students and parents, eliminating the need to use a secondary software program.
Along with a traditional grading program, Alma provides a true standards/competency based platform. This SIS has grown alongside the change in educational trends, meeting the needs of schools, transitioning their assessment/evaluation practices.
Support services for Alma are outstanding. The customer support team is available in the matter of minutes, assisting and answering all questions one might have. The team is extremely knowledgeable, friendly and willing to take an idea you might suggest and make it happen! This support team makes transition/roll over periods stress free!
Cons
Alma's reporting section for state reports and other school information reports still needs to develop. As time goes on I believe Alma will continue to make improvements in this area. Reports are currently available in a a basic excel or csv files. These files work for what we need, but I feel this area could develop more in the future.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10
Good if your users are not picky
Reviewed on 05/10/2021
Was the right move at the right time (web based - SAS)
Was the right move at the right time (web based - SAS)
Pros
Web based
Fast
Quick support
Google SSO
SAS
Cons
Email editor is TOO basic.
Report writer is not flexible, cost per extra fields.
Retrieve unenrolled student's data from previous years should be easier.
Apply changes to multiple classes, schedules, etc should allow to select randomly or by criteria.
Backup/Restore feature not available.
Mixed Letter, Numbers and Standards based grades are not compatible.
Transcripts reports must allow more flexible design.
Reasons for Choosing Alma MIS
Complete suite must be web based on the cloudReasons for Switching to Alma MIS
Lower cost Technical support- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
ALMA Year One Review
Reviewed on 13/07/2021
Alma has been highly responsive. Their customer service beat all other SIS products that we have...
Alma has been highly responsive. Their customer service beat all other SIS products that we have worked with. Many of the issues that we are having are due to a specific issues to California schools.
Pros
ALMA is colorful with a high ease of use for parents and students. It is easy to access and manage student and school data.
Class scheduling is a breeze. We can accomplish more in one day that we could in one week with our previous product.
Cons
Printing report cards is a disaster. There is no option to batch print report cards all in one job. There is no page break option, so RCs end up getting copied to the backs of one-another if they have an odd number of pages. The only option is to print each .pdf individually.
There are several remaining issues with data reporting for California accountability reports.
Alternatives Considered
PowerSchool SISReasons for Choosing Alma MIS
Cost, end-user experience.Reasons for Switching to Alma MIS
Cost, customer service.- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
My Honest Review
Reviewed on 14/01/2021
Pros
I loved that our district made a deal to get a group purchase for ALMA so it made the price just perfect for us. ALMA looks beautiful and is an excellent tool. It is such a powerful data tracking tool which is great when you're trying to analyze large amounts of data. I love that you can run an extract and upload it to CALPADS, it makes reporting so much easier! The customer support team always has a great attitude and truly feels like they love helping you.
Cons
One of the major CONS is that it is not yet fully approved by the state for reporting, which adds another step to program administrators to get it approved for attendance. That was a major bummer. Another CON is that because it is such a powerful system, some training is required if you hope to use it properly. When I started using it I thought I could just teach myself how to use it and ended up costing myself and my teachers a week or so of grief until I could get proper training. It's all in the settings. If you don't have those set up properly, then you're doomed. Once you train for 2-3 hours though with their great staff, it's a breeze after that!
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10
A solid program with good support that currently lacks a few features.
Reviewed on 08/05/2020
My overall experience with Alma has been very positive. I prefer this program to any other SIS...
My overall experience with Alma has been very positive. I prefer this program to any other SIS that I have used.
Pros
Alma is very easy to use, even for those that are not particularly proficient with technology. It's functionality is improved from other SIS programs I have used in the past (Progressbook and Power School). As an administrator, I have far more control to make changes and adjustments that fit my staff and students. The customer support team is also very helpful and responsive.
Cons
There are some features that are missing. We have requested GPA-based grade calculation and some additions to transcripts that have not yet been implemented. However, several other features that we have requested have been implemented over the past two years.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10
Definitely a Product for Educators
Reviewed on 08/05/2020
Having just come from a visually exhausting, not user-friendly information management and grading...
Having just come from a visually exhausting, not user-friendly information management and grading system, Alma has been a breath of fresh air. It was a pretty easy transition, figuring out the lay of the land. I was never confident on the old system. After only a few months into using Alma, I feel like I have a really good grasp on using it, and if not, I know that they have a great support system to help me out if I get stuck.
Pros
Is the Alma system absolutely perfect in every way? No product out there is! What has really impressed me about Alma is their incredible support team and communication. If we (the people using Alma) have a need and make a suggestion, they are lightning fast in coming up with a solution that fits the need. It is incredibly user friendly, visually appealing in its organization, and houses all of the tools we need for student information management in one tidy place.
Cons
My only wish would be to see a record of the messages that are sent directly to students and parents. However, Alma does allow you to send the message to your email, so it is possible to keep a record of messages that way.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 201–500 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
A great Student Information System for schools
Reviewed on 09/07/2021
Alma is always open on my computer in the classroom so that I can add/change grades, put in...
Alma is always open on my computer in the classroom so that I can add/change grades, put in discipline issues, or check on student information at the click of a button. I do like that it securely logs me out after a time period, but it is easy to log back in. This is a great tool for every school.
Pros
This is one of the easiest products I've used at a school. It did not take me long to learn how to use it. I am able to find student information quickly. It is easy to add student grades, or link ALMA to my Google Classroom where grades are automatically uploaded for me. It has a plethora of features, all of which are vital for the seamless running of a school.
Cons
I would love to see the Curriculum calendar more developed so that curriculum, units and standards could be added. I played with it a little last year but struggled to figure this section out. I believe it is in the works, however.
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
School counselor review
Reviewed on 08/05/2020
Good, actually.
Good, actually.
Pros
There's too much to list everything!!!
I like the class function, the internal staff note function, the file cabinet, the graduation function and the reporting function, though I would tweak them all a bit.
Cons
I don't know how to ask for changes. That isn't really obvious to me at all. Everything below I'd probably be able to ask for, but don't know how.
With the class function, I would like to print class lists without the pictures. I also LIKE printing lists with pictures, but a lot of time I just want the data.
Also, I would love the print the class schedule as it is on the page, but it reverts to another version that I do not like at all.
With the Internal Staff Note function, I would like to be able to hide it on the overview page. That's the page that has grades and I like to show them to students, but NOT the internal staff notes.
- Industry: Primary/Secondary Education
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Switched to Alma, never going back!
Reviewed on 06/05/2022
Before we switched our school to Alma we were using multiple programs to help our teachers with...
Before we switched our school to Alma we were using multiple programs to help our teachers with their record keeping responsibilities. We had one program for grading, another one for rosters, and yet another one for communication with parents. We even had an entirely different program to help generate grade reports and student schedules. None of them interfaced with each other, and our staff were often doing double and triple entries for each student. Since switching to Alma we have reduced the administrative burden on our teachers and office staff by over 50%. Alma has enabled our teachers to better utilize their office time, and freed up valuable opportunities for more one on one teaching time. This is a win-win for everyone involved in the education process. Thank you Alma!
Pros
Alma integrates our administrative processes into one, easy to use program that both parents and teachers love!
Cons
The financial/billing component is not as comprehensive as we need.
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
Using Alma
Reviewed on 10/03/2016
We began using the Alma gradebook last year, and then the Learning Report feature this year....
We began using the Alma gradebook last year, and then the Learning Report feature this year. Initial set up of the files and transfers was a little bumpy with customer service at the beginning of the year, so this accounts for 4 instead of 5 stars. From there, the team has really worked to adjust files to our needs, particularly when we come up to report card time.
The program still seems relatively new, as the team is building and embedding resources as it goes, and customer service is responsive to requests for new types of reports. I really appreciate the chat feature in the program, to see which customer service members have seen a message in the queue, and that I get an email if I'm not online to see it.
One difficulty that has taken some time is the process of loading our state standards. Only national Common Core standards for math and ELA, and the National Science Standards are available for the gradebook side. This meant hours, hours and hours of work on our part to code and format our state standards to send to Alma so that, hopefully soon, they can be uploaded and our teachers can use them. In the meantime, no scores on the gradebook side can be loaded for any subject other than math, ELA, and science, given that we want to use Common Core and NSS standards for those assignments.
The process of loading specialized learning targets for report cards was very easy the first term. Since we were learning the process, teachers wanted to create some adjustments to those for the second term, and that required a huge effort on Alma's end, so we've been nervous and eager to see that working and get reports done in time for parents. Likely, now that we've gone through that with them, it would be easier for other schools if needed from this point forward.
Response from Alma Technologies
We are working all of the time to improve our custom and state standards import process. We appreciate not only your patience with the process but your feedback. We also hope to make updating academic targets smoother - as we know these are constantly evolving at schools. We will keep you updated on any progress we make. Thanks again for the feedback!
- Industry: Education Management
- Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10
This is the worst student management program I have been exposed to.
Reviewed on 23/02/2018
None that other programs don't offer with better access.
None that other programs don't offer with better access.
Pros
I can Email student classes, when they are accessible, honestly though this program has been a disaster.
Cons
No report cards, no missing work access, no class rank, GPAs are spotty, Transcripts are junk, no app. We had to hand compute class rank, Cumulative GPA, and enter transcript credits.
Response from Alma Technologies
Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us! We want you to know that we take your feedback very seriously. I've addressed each of the items listed under cons below and would greatly appreciate it if you would contact support if any of these items are still a concern.
- We do have Report Cards unless I am misunderstanding you.
- We have reports for missing work, class rank and cumulative GPAs. Parents and students can also see missing work when they log in to their respective portals.
- We have improvements to our Transcripts planned but if there is something specific you have feedback on we would love to hear.
We are committed to improving your experience and won't stop until you're satisfied. We would be happy to set up some additional training time for you so you know where to access some of these tools. If you are interested in additional training let our team know through your in-app support or by emailing us!
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
So easy to use! Great for quick grade updating.
Reviewed on 21/06/2018
It is easy to use and it makes it so easy to communicate student performance with parents and...
It is easy to use and it makes it so easy to communicate student performance with parents and administrators.
Pros
I love how easy it is to use. I can have my students call out scores for homework assignments and be updating them during class time. I also love it as a parent communication tool. With the simple categories and live updates, I can quickly show my parents where their students are struggling simply by updating my gradebook.
Cons
I wish the assignments in each subject were sorted with the most recent assignments right next to the students names. I also wish there was a feature that would allow you to email a particular group or class right from the main screen instead of having to open that class.