Sycamore Education Pricing, Features, Reviews & Comparison of Alternatives

Pros
Ease of use. Customer support. Frequent updates/upgrades. Meets all IS needs for our private school.

Cons
Graphics, as well as look & feel could use an update. Wish this product would integrate with our online curriculum.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Communication has increased between parents and teachers as grades can be tracked and paper grades don't get lost. It also has provided accountability in that teachers are posting grades on a more timely basis. It allows consistency between grades and years. The system is very powerful; customer service is probably the most helpful that I have encountered. I love the ability to create transcripts and that these are kept on the system. It tracks attendance much better than we were doing previously. The medical logs have been helpful. Doing online admissions has taken us to a new level as well.

Cons
The system isn't as intuitive as I would like. Because I have worked with it several years, it's much easier now and people end up coming to me to figure out how to do specific things with it. I have been frustrated a bit b/c it doesn't allow for creative flexibility (for instance transcripts don't have a lot of space for extra activities) or for things that aren't the same in different countries. We have worked around a lot of the barriers, and Sycamore has been very helpful to put things on the list of potential fixes.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The simplicity of the software package and the ease of implementation. Sycamore offers the software without nickel and diming for add-ons or necessary features. For a small and/or non-profit institution, it is an AWESOME option at a very reasonable cost.

Cons
Not much support in terms of online manuals/support. I function better as a self-directed learner, and the online manuals and videos that were available at the time I onboarded were not very helpful. On the other hand, the phone support was very helpful in assisting when I couldn't find the answer online.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
There are very little pros, except that I easily reached a customer service rep when I needed help with an issue.

Cons
I did not like Sycamore as an LMS. I found its interface to be clunky, filled with unnecessary options, and difficult to navigate. For example, to this day, I still have no idea how to create an assignment so that a student can upload there work. Believe me, I tried to figure it out. Eventually I gave up and used another system. The grade book was another problematic feature. At the end of the semester, it does not show final grades computed with the final exam. You have to go into each individual student and look at there "grade report" to see the end computation. I do not recommend this system. There are much better LMS's available.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 0/10

Pros
1, Very cost effective 2. You are purchasing all that the program has to offer. There are no additional fees for upgrades 3. Customer Service is awesome! Quick to respond, helpful and you can reach them by phone or PAN. 4. Very user friendly 5. HIGH HIGH rate of parent satisfaction with being able to access grades, teachers, one another, etc. All of them rave about the program! 6. Sycamore Leaf keeps us updated 7. Sycamore is always seeking to improve their program 8. PAN - we absolutely LOVE this feature. Our high school classrooms are in "learning cottages" aka trailers - and the teachers are separated. This feature allows all of us to feel so connected!

Cons
1, Not too many or serious... we did notice that if you make a change on the family or student information (you have the mother's name wrong ex.) then when you correct it, you cannot do it in just one area, you have to go into multiple areas. 2. We had some issues with the GPA configuration. I did not deal with it, but I know our high school conselor had numerous phone calls and PAN' s to get it figured out properly. For some reason we now have to do something different to get our proper grading. 3. Getting my parents over the learning curve of using the program. It is frustrating to hear them say " We seldom check Sycamore" and in our memos and everything else we keep saying HOW MUCH we put on Sycamore and to check it out. Word of mouth is helping this... I hear parents telling other parents that they really need to use it, or someone asking another how they knew about something and they will say "on Sycamore" .

Rating breakdown