Local Newspaper Coverage Of PowerSchool Reflects Software's Growing Importance

by , 1:30 PM EST, December 27th, 2002

In March of 2001, Apple bought the company that produced the education data management system, PowerSchool, for US$62 million. That's quite an investment. Until recently, there has been little mention of the product in the press. Today we noted just such a mention from a local Tennessee newspaper.

In Maryville, Tennessee, Carpenters Middle School is entering the Age of the Internet with its implementation of PowerSchool. The Daily Times, a newspaper local to Maryville, reports in an article titled Parents log on to keep tabs on kids that PowerSchool is being installed to give local parents access to grades and other information about their kids and the software is getting positive reviews. From the Daily Times:

PowerSchool, an Internet-based grade book and attendance record, was launched at Carpenters Middle School in October.

Now, technology personnel are working to get all the bugs out so it can be launched at other schools in the Blount County System, said Brian Bell, technology supervisor for Blount County Schools.

Parents are given a user name and password, allowing them to access their child's grades, attendance records and remarks by the teacher for the student.

"They can actually peek into a teacher's grade book and see how the students are doing," Bell said.

Check out the full article at The Daily Times. Thanks to Observer Andrew for the head up on the article.

The Mac Observer Spin:

PowerSchool is great software and it's a shame that Apple doesn't promote it more to the general public, not just to teachers and administrators. The capabilities that PowerSchool can provide would make any parent ask why their school system doesn't have a system that allows them to check the scholastic progress of their kids via the Internet. Apple may be missing the boat on this one.

The Switch ads are great but ads that feature the power of Xserve and PowerSchool could stop the education market share hemorrhaging, as well as the mind share loss, that seems to be going on. Everything helps.

We also found it interesting that PowerSchool made such an impression on the publishers that Apple's role in the article is very limited. In other words, it wasn't Apple's clout that seems to have driven the article, but rather PowerSchool's effect on the school system by itself. That may very well be a good sign for Apple while it works on trying to rebuild its education presence through PowerSchool. Apple's brand name doesn't have the universal cachet in education that it once had, so a product that stands on its own merits is a Very Good Thing™.

Parents log on to keep tabs on kids