What Features to Look for in a Student Information System (SIS)

When comparing student information systems (SIS), a long feature list does not always tell you whether the system will work for your school. What matters is how well it handles the tasks your staff performs every day—from enrollment and attendance to grading, reporting, scheduling, family access, and billing—and whether those tools work together without creating extra work.

So, what features should you look for in a student information system?

A good SIS should provide centralized student records, enrollment management, attendance tracking, gradebooks, report cards, scheduling, parent and student access, communication tools, reporting, integrations, data security, and reliable training and support. Schools that collect tuition may also need billing and payment management.

Just as important, these features should work together. Teachers and administrators should not have to enter the same information into several systems, and families should have a simple way to access the information the school chooses to share.

Here are the key features to evaluate when comparing student information systems.

1. Centralized Student Information and Records

Managing student information is one of the main purposes of an SIS.

Look for a system that gives authorized staff one place to manage the student information they need throughout the school year. Depending on your school, that may include:

• Student and family contact information
• Demographic information
• Enrollment status
• Academic records
• Student schedules
• Medical information
• Behavior or discipline records
• Student documents and forms

The important question is not simply how much information the system can store. Consider how easily administrators and other authorized staff can find, update, and use that information.

Also look at how information connects across the system. For example, changing important student information should not require staff to manually update several unrelated databases.

Gradelink’s SIS combines student record management with academic and administrative tools. Its student information capabilities include demographic management, student records, student photos, ethnicity reporting, and school averages reporting. The system also includes tools for medical and discipline information.

2. Online Enrollment and Re-Enrollment

Enrollment can involve applications, family information, agreements, forms, payments, approvals, and a significant amount of data entry.

When evaluating an SIS, look beyond whether it offers an online application.

Ask what happens after a student is accepted.

Can information collected during enrollment become part of the student’s record? Can returning families update existing information rather than starting over? Can administrators review applications without maintaining a separate manual process?

An enrollment system connected to the SIS can reduce duplicate data entry and help create a smoother transition from applicant to enrolled student.

Gradelink offers EnrollMe for online enrollment and re-enrollment. Families can enter or update information online and complete enrollment requirements, while administrators can review submitted applications and move approved applicants into the student information system.

3. Attendance Tracking That Matches Your School

Attendance is an everyday task, so small inefficiencies can add up quickly over a school year.

A useful SIS should make it simple for teachers to record attendance while giving administrators access to the information they need.

When comparing systems, consider whether you need:

• Daily attendance
• Attendance by class or period
• Tardy tracking
• Excused and unexcused absence tracking
• Attendance reports
• Parent attendance notifications
• Check-in/check-out capabilities
• Extended-care attendance

Also ask how quickly attendance entered by teachers becomes available to office staff.

Gradelink supports both daily and class attendance, along with attendance reporting and related attendance-management tools. It also offers Check In for student check-in and check-out workflows.

The right system should fit the way your school takes attendance rather than forcing staff to create workarounds.

4. Teacher Gradebooks That Connect With Academic Records

Most schools evaluating an SIS will expect a gradebook. The more important question is how well that gradebook works with everything around it.

Consider whether teachers can manage:

• Assignments
• Homework
• Tests and quizzes
• Projects
• Different grading methods
• Assignment weighting
• Extra credit
• Comments
• Incomplete work
• Standards, if applicable

Then look at where that information goes.

Can grades move naturally into progress reports and report cards? Can authorized administrators access academic information without asking teachers to export spreadsheets? Can families see the information the school chooses to make available?

Gradelink’s teacher gradebooks support letter, point, and percentage grading, assignment weighting, extra credit, custom grade codes, and other grading tools. Teachers can manage homework, tests, projects, quizzes, and other assignments within the system.

For schools using standards-based approaches, Gradelink also provides standards-based grading and reporting tools.

The key takeaway is simple: don’t evaluate a gradebook as a standalone feature. Evaluate how it fits into your school’s complete academic workflow.

5. Report Cards, Progress Reports, and Academic Reporting

Report-card time should not require administrators to rebuild information teachers have already entered.

Look for an SIS that can turn existing academic information into the reports your school needs.

Depending on your academic model, that may include:

• Report cards
• Progress reports
• Standards-based reports
• Conduct information
• Teacher comments
• Deficiency reports
• Transcripts

Customization is also important. Schools differ in their grading scales, terms, report-card layouts, standards, and reporting requirements.

Gradelink includes customizable report cards, progress reports, deficiency reports, conduct reports, comprehensive reports, and standards-based report cards.

When evaluating a system, ask the provider to show you an actual report-card workflow instead of only showing a sample report.

6. Classes and Scheduling That Fit Your Academic Structure

Scheduling requirements can vary significantly from one school to another.

Before choosing an SIS, determine whether it can support your school’s:

• Terms and grading periods
• Classes
• Teacher schedules
• Student schedules
• Grade scales
• Block schedules
• Class calendars
• Academic structure

Gradelink, for example, supports student scheduling, block scheduling, simple and advanced teacher schedules, custom class types, custom grade scales, class calendars, and concurrent mixed terms such as quarters and trimesters.

During a demo, give the SIS provider a real example of your school’s scheduling structure and ask them to show how the system would handle it.

7. Parent and Student Access

An SIS should make appropriate information available to families without requiring parents to contact the school every time they want an update.

Depending on what your school wants to share, a parent and student portal may provide access to:

• Current grades
• Assignments
• Upcoming work
• Attendance
• Student schedules
• School calendars
• Class calendars
• Academic records

Mobile access is also worth considering because many families will check school information from their phones.

Gradelink provides dedicated Student/Parent Access and a mobile app. Depending on the options enabled by the school, families can access information such as grades, assignments, attendance, schedules, calendars, and transcripts.

When comparing systems, test the experience from a parent’s point of view, not just an administrator’s.

Can a parent quickly find the information they came looking for?

8. School-to-Family Communication

Student information and family communication are closely connected.

If a school already has parent and guardian information in its SIS, communication tools can help staff reach the right people without repeatedly maintaining separate contact lists.

Look for capabilities that match the way your school communicates, such as:

• Email communication
• Group messaging
• School announcements
• Calendars
• Teacher updates
• Grade or attendance alerts

Gradelink includes SmartSend email capabilities, group building, school calendars, school news and announcements, and teacher web pages. It also provides grade and attendance monitoring options for families.

Text and voice messaging are offered by Gradelink as a Premium Service, so schools should confirm which communication tools are included when comparing packages.

9. Tuition and Billing Capabilities

For tuition-based schools, billing may be another important part of the SIS decision.

Consider whether your school needs the system to manage:

• Tuition rates
• Family billing
• Statements
• Payment plans
• Incidental charges
• Accounts receivable
• Online payments
• Financial reports

A connected billing system is especially useful when financial information needs to link to student and family records already maintained by the school.

Gradelink’s tuition and billing functionality includes accounts receivable, billing statements, multiple tuition rates, aging reports, incidental billing, and automated lunch billing.

Schools that do not need billing functionality should focus instead on the administrative features that match their own workflows.

10. Reports That Make School Data Useful

An SIS can collect a large amount of information. Administrators still need a practical way to use it.

Before choosing a system, make a list of the reports your school regularly prepares.

Then ask the SIS provider to show how those reports are generated.

Useful reporting may cover:

• Attendance
• Grades and academic progress
• Student enrollment
• Classes
• Standards
• Discipline
• Billing
• Staff
• Family information
• Security activity

Gradelink includes administrative, academic, attendance, standards, billing, and other reporting capabilities. Its feature set includes reports for areas such as class attendance, average grades, family directories, IEP tracking, staff rosters, security activity, and volunteer service hours.

A practical test is to ask:

Can our administrators get the information they regularly need without exporting data and rebuilding reports in separate spreadsheets?

11. Integrations With the Tools Your School Already Uses

No SIS operates completely on its own.

Your school may already use classroom platforms, learning management systems, identity tools, tuition services, device-management systems, or other education technology.

Before changing your SIS, identify those tools.

Then determine whether the SIS can connect with the ones that matter.

Gradelink supports integrations with services including Google Classroom, ClassLink, Schoology, Microsoft School Data Sync, Apple School Manager, Clever, and FACTS Tuition Management, as well as other education and reporting integrations.

Its Google Classroom integration, for example, can connect classes and allow teachers to transfer assignments and student grades between Google Classroom and Gradelink.

Don’t judge an SIS by the number of logos on its integrations page.

Ask instead:

Does it integrate with the tools our school actually uses?

12. Data Security, Privacy, Backups, and User Access

A student information system stores information that schools need to protect.

Security therefore deserves more than a checkbox on an SIS comparison sheet.

Ask potential providers specific questions:

• How is information encrypted?
• How is school data backed up?
• Who can access student information?
• Can administrators control permissions?
• Can schools set password requirements?
• Are user activities logged?
• What happens to the school’s data?

Gradelink’s web and mobile client connections use SSL encryption. Its documented security measures also include redundant automatic nightly backups, offsite backup, customizable password rules, account inactivity controls, activity logging, and access controls for different types of users. Schools retain ownership of their data, and school information is not given, sold, or otherwise provided to third parties without written consent or direction from school administration.

Rather than accepting a general claim that an SIS is “secure,” ask providers to explain the specific measures they use to protect school information.

13. Ease of Use for Administrators, Teachers, and Families

An SIS can have dozens of features and still create more work if common tasks are difficult to complete.

Ease of use should therefore be tested, not assumed.

During a demo, ask to see everyday workflows:

For teachers: How do I take attendance, create an assignment, enter grades, and prepare report cards?

For administrators: How do I update a student record, create a schedule, run an attendance report, or find family information?

For families: How do I check grades, assignments, attendance, and schedules?

Gradelink’s product design focuses on making tools easy to find and intuitive to use while reducing unnecessary clicks.

The best way to evaluate that claim, or a similar usability claim from any SIS provider, is to see the common workflows yourself.

14. Implementation, Training, and Ongoing Support

One feature is easy to overlook when comparing student information systems: the people and resources behind the software.

Schools need help getting started, training staff, answering questions, and adapting as needs change.

Before choosing an SIS, find out:

• What happens during setup?
• What training is provided?
• Are teachers and administrators trained separately?
• Is there a searchable help center?
• Can staff contact a real support person?
• Is support included or charged separately?
• Are software updates included?

Gradelink includes staff training, unlimited personalized phone and email support, access to help resources and videos, and automatic software updates with its SIS.

A system your school plans to use every day should come with support your staff can actually use.

Student Information System Features Checklist

Use this checklist when comparing SIS options or preparing questions for a product demo.

How Gradelink Brings Key SIS Features Together

The features above are important individually, but schools should also consider how well those features work together.

Gradelink is a web-based Student Information System designed to connect many of the academic and administrative tasks schools handle throughout the year.

Its SIS includes student information management, attendance, classes and scheduling, teacher gradebooks, report cards, parent and student access, standards-based tools, communication features, discipline and medical records, administrative reporting, tuition and billing capabilities, integrations, and staff support.

Additional services, including EnrollMe and certain premium communication capabilities, are available based on a school’s needs.

The benefit of bringing these functions together is not simply having more features. It is giving school staff a way to manage connected information and workflows without relying on a separate system for every task.

Choosing an SIS for Your School

There isn’t one feature that determines whether a student information system is right for a school.

Start with the work your administrators and teachers perform every day. Identify where staff are entering information more than once, maintaining separate spreadsheets, switching between disconnected systems, or spending too much time preparing reports.

Then use those real workflows to evaluate SIS options.

Ask providers to show you how their system handles your school’s processes, rather than making your decision from a feature list alone.

If you’re considering Gradelink, a product demo can help you see how its student information, attendance, gradebook, reporting, scheduling, family access, and other SIS tools would work for your school.

Watch a Gradelink demo to explore the Student Information System and determine whether its features match your school’s needs.