# Focus SIS Reviews **Vendor:** Focus School Software **Category:** [K-12 Student Information Systems](https://www.g2.com/categories/k-12-student-information-systems) **Average Rating:** 4.0/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 13 ## About Focus SIS Focus School Software is a leading provider of student information systems (SIS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions for K-12 and postsecondary institutions. Trusted by five of the 10 largest U.S. school districts, Focus serves over 3.7 million students across a diverse range of states. From coast to coast, our software powers schools in Arizona, California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Washington. ## Focus SIS Reviews ### 1. B. Jackson School Counselor **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Bridget J. | School Counselor, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 25, 2021 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** Easy to use. Many features that I find by accident. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** Lack of training and support for unused features. **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Unable to solve scheduling problems because we are not using the Progression Plan. ### 2. Some features need improvement **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 18, 2018 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** single sign on feature, everything in one place. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** not being able to see the total count of students after I take attendance. with admin access I would like to be able to view teachers gradebooks instead of looking up students individually to see what their grades are in the class. I am an ESE support teacher and it would help me a lot to see the grades of the students I support by seeing the teacher's gradebook. Some data can be consolidated. The emails for parents can be found in multiple locations. Should be in just one place. **Recommendations to others considering Focus SIS:** use recommended browsers **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Easy to pull some data on students Good to keep parent contact logs and view who else has called home. ### 3. Stay in FOCUS with FOCUS **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 16, 2020 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** FOCUS is very user friendly and provides the ability to maintain student, user and teacher information all in one area. You can access student records, staff/user credentials, and teacher schedules all at the click of a button. Advanced reports can be created and modified to fit the data you need. It's simple to walk through and offers multiple options to maintain all your student / school records in one place. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** At times, due to all the information that FOCUS can provide, it looks a bit overwhelming. There are many sections and links to get to areas that could be more simplified. **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** FOCUS allows me the opportunity to access student records and transcripts to determine program eligibility. I can access student test records, grades (past and present), and access student schedules for the current year. This allows me to create electronic reports and reduces my need to print records out. ### 4. FOCUS is very user friendly **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Alesha M. | Billing Manager , Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 15, 2019 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** FOCUS is easy to navigate, even for people who may not be tech savvy. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** I have not found anything to dislike as yet. **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** FOCUS makes it easy for me to keep up with student grades and schedules. As well as, student discipline referrals. ### 5. Does what it's supposed to do. **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 28, 2019 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** I like being able to grade from anywhere. I also like being able to have multiple tabs of the program open in order to quickly switch from attendance to grades. I like having the classroom log feature to keep track of my communication with parents and students. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** Focus seems like a grade portal with hidden treasures. So hidden that they never get used. While I like being able to grade from anywhere, I do think that it's time for a system facelift. Maybe it's just the version my school district uses, but it does look outdated. From my use of the system it appears that you can assign students assignments. I am still unsure of how to use this element of the program. There are also some features that aren't as clear to use, like submitting a grade change request. I do wish everything was laid out a bit better, but I think since the system has been used for so long it would probably take a substantial amount of effort to rehaul the system, have a group of users test it out and get the kinks out, then transfer the old data to the new system. Overall Focus works, but it does leave more to be desired. My wishlist would include a classroom log that could maybe import files from other programs like maybe class dojo or emails. A cleaner, straight to the point way of updating a grade. Lastly, I am not sure what the parents see, but is there an app for parents/students? If not, one would definitely help. Many of my students come from homes with either no computer in them or limited functioning internet capable devices. **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Focus provides a way for us as teachers to submit grades and attendance. It provides parents and students with a way to see their grades as well. ### 6. Training is Needed, but Highly Valuable Website **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 18, 2019 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** I like that there are so many features and functions such as pulling attendance, present and past enrollments, disciplinary referrals, grades, and statewide assessments. As an administrator, I am able to see very involved data about students academic records. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** As an another user stated, the website is not customizable. I am not one for the aesthetic presence, but there are a few things about the layout I would change if possible. The website can be a little finicky when you hover the mouse over what you want and can easily go away if you slightly move the cursor. It seems too clustered. **Recommendations to others considering Focus SIS:** It is very involved and there is a great deal of sensitive information. To make the most out of the product, I would recommend obtaining some training to make the complications of the site more user friendly. **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** As a second year school counselor, I am able to see what reports my principal uploads without having to have a conversation about the referral. I am realizing that FOCUS allows the viewability of great amounts of data accessible to others and principals.I like that it is a district wide tool to see into a child's academic record in case you do not have access to their cumulative file. ### 7. So simple to use there's no training needed! **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Fanny Z. | Facilitator, Education Management, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 08, 2018 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** I love the homepage layout. I have the birthdays of the students to the far right and the featured programs in the middle with my "find a student" section to my left. On the top I have my tabs for things such as schedules, grades, assessments, attendance, reports etc. The icons next to each students help identify them based on individual needs for example if they are SPED, ESL/LEP, At Risk, 504, GT, Medical Alert the list goes on it's as simple as memorizing the meaning of each icon. You have varies ways to getting what you are looking for from different screens as well. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** I dislike not being able to personalize my screen. While I enjoy seeing whose birthday it is as soon as I log into the home screen we have over 1,200 student on my campus in which I am only responsible for 390. It would be nice to know how many of my 12th graders have birthdays that week compared to the entire school. Secondly, I don't use all the featured programs so m=being able to take out some of the ones I don't need and make room for the programs I use daily such as attendance, grades and student info would be amazing. Another thing I hate is being logged out every time I am idle for over 3-4 minutes. While there is a "Help" button we can click it is pretty much useless as it's only articles. A live chat agent would be great! **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Student attendance is my main focus based on my position. I can look at the attendance report the campus clerk sends out then target my kids by inputting their names into Focus and clicking the attendance tab. The report can be printed directly from the layout of the screen or you can download it as an Excel Template which is my favorite and make any tweaks you personally want. I have been able to easily keep track of my students success due to monitoring their attendance and confirming their presence ta school. Our ADA went from low 90's to high 90's in a 3 week range after getting the hang of Focus and generating my reports. ### 8. Great Tool **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 27, 2018 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** Keep all student data in one place. It's also easy to put in grades and take attendance. The notifications when you first sign in is also very helpful. I always forget to take attendance and it's the first thing I see so I always do that when I sign in. I also really like how I can do my lesson plans on Focus. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** There are a lot of tabs so it gets confusing. Also, do grade configurations is a little confusing as well. I feel like there are too many options for a lot of simple things. **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** This definitely helps me declutter my desk because I don't have to keep talk of grades on paper. Once I put the grades in, I can return my students' papers back to them and not worry where I recorded their grades. Parents and students are also able to go on focus and look at their grades so it's no surprise to them when report cards come out! ### 9. School software **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 06, 2019 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** Ease of use. It's user friendly for grading and attendance. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** Navigation could be more streamlined. Sometimes it takes lots of clicks to get to student info. **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** All in one for grades, attendance, and student information. ### 10. Good competitor **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Maria B. | Chemistry Teacher, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 17, 2019 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** The system was good for putting in grades. I learned to love it eventually. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** The system crashed a lot. Customer service was almost impossible to get hold of. Not a lot of people were available to help fix issues. **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Putting in grades, taking attendance in class, searching student information ### 11. Comprehensive software for student data **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 21, 2018 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** I like the snapshot information I can get in each section or categoy for each individual student. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** I don't like that the schedule shown is not providing me with a "real-time". For instance, if a student is in 4th period, it would be nice if that line was highlighted. **Recommendations to others considering Focus SIS:** I would definitely consider this as a comprehensive tool for school and district usage. It has the ability to store the information necessary in the event of an emergency for all students. It is also a great tool to use for student's schedule and to see snapshot information such as school absences. **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am able to locate the student throughout the day by knowing the student's schedule. I am also able to contact the parent's easily with the information shown. ### 12. Focus on Work with this **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ashley T. | Substitute Teacher, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 17, 2018 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** Focus SIS is easy to navigate and and easy to use. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** Maintenance is needed so when it goes offline, we're a little lost. **Recommendations to others considering Focus SIS:** Take it slow and focus on learning one section at a time. Really use everything they offer because it is helpful. **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is one place for the grade book, lesson plans, students, information, and more which makes it convenient. ### 13. The product does what it needs to do. **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 12, 2018 **What do you like best about Focus SIS?** I like that Focus allows me to see information on the individual as needed. It also has photos, which help so that am easily able to identify the individual. There are updates, such as birthdays, changes, and reminders that occur daily. **What do you dislike about Focus SIS?** I do not like that I have to "hunt" for certain pieces of information. It seems that this should be easier, but I find myself clicking and searching just to find a note that I made or a phone number. **What problems is Focus SIS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am easily able to sort information about individuals. This is much easier than doing it on my own. I am alway able to easily share information with my colleagues through Focus. ## Focus SIS Discussions - [What is Focus SIS used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-focus-sis-used-for) - [How do I view gradebooks of the teachers I support in my ese classes?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/36981-how-do-i-view-gradebooks-of-the-teachers-i-support-in-my-ese-classes) - [View Focus SIS pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/focus-sis/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-05-16+02%3A00%3A50+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=0fb2ea89-ff4d-4b79-9ddc-239902ad7336&secure%5Btoken%5D=6ef1d9d1bb31a9002d19112cfc58233eb337a173aadc4d1651655e0a4d414b75&format=llm_user) ## Focus SIS Features **Platform Content** - File Sharing - White-Labeling - Gradebook **Agentic AI - Student Information Systems (SIS)** - Cross-system Integration **Platform Additional Functionality** - Cloud - Mobility - Messaging **Platform Data** - Visualization - Dashboard - Analytics - Registration - Atttendance **Agentic AI - K-12 Student Information Systems** - Cross-system Integration ## Top Focus SIS Alternatives - [Skyward Student Management Suite](https://www.g2.com/products/skyward-student-management-suite/reviews) - 3.8/5.0 (177 reviews) - [PowerSchool SIS](https://www.g2.com/products/powerschool-sis/reviews) - 4.2/5.0 (722 reviews) - [Infinite Campus](https://www.g2.com/products/infinite-campus/reviews) - 3.7/5.0 (200 reviews)