PowerSchool Special Programs Reviews & Product Details

Top-Rated Alternatives

Embrace

4.4/5(27)

Frontline Special Education Management Software

4.2/5(44)

Skyward Student Information System

3.8/5(177)

View All Alternatives

User Insights

Average based on 27 real user reviews.

PowerSchool Special Programs Reviews FAQs

Generated using AI

Last updated: Nov 04, 2026

What is PowerSchool Special Programs, and what problem is it built to solve?

PowerSchool is a cloud-based K–12 education software platform that connects students, teachers, administrators, and parents. It helps schools and districts manage areas including special education, state reporting and compliance, student services, teaching, and school operations.

What company sizes and industries is PowerSchool Special Programs the best fit for?

PowerSchool Special Programs appears most relevant to education organizations, particularly mid-market and enterprise teams. The strongest representation is in these company-size and industry segments:

Mid-market organizations: Teams with 51–1,000 employees.
Enterprise organizations: Teams with more than 1,000 employees.
Education management: Organizations focused on managing educational programs and services.
Primary and secondary education: Schools and organizations serving these grade levels.

G2 reviews are authentic and verified.

Here's how.

Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

9/17/2023

"I loved it. So clean and easy to understand."

4.5/5

What do you like best about PowerSchool Special Programs?

It provided me an easy and accessible way to access my grades throughout the year. I loved the formatting, and colors. Overall, it was a very appealing app. There aren't too many buttons so it doesn't confuse me. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about PowerSchool Special Programs?

This may be just my personal experience with my own school, however power school never provided a cumulative GPA of all my classes and grades. For someone that's really dedicated to her grades this was something I would have liked access to. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

7/14/2022

"Special Programs is Awful. Use any other program if possible"

0/5

What do you like best about PowerSchool Special Programs?

Nothing! Special programs is awful - don't use it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about PowerSchool Special Programs?

Not user-friendly AT ALL. It's extremely frustrating to navigate. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is PowerSchool Special Programs solving and how is that benefiting you?

Special Programs is completely horrific to use - if you can avoid using it, do so at all costs for your sanity. The staff at my school aren't even using it yet, because it's not user-friendly at all. I've been working for the past year to get it to a point where it can be used at my schools and my experience has been extremely frustrating.

First, in January of 2022, I met with a rep to talk about documents that we would like to have changed or added to Special Programs. It took him and his team 4 months (May 2022) to get back to us on the cost of what those documents would cost (and that was only after I pestered him with emails). The cost for those documents to be made was going to be over $40,000, so I decided to edit the documents that I could.

If you're good at coding or understand how data systems work, then MAYBE you could understand how to edit documents, but for me it was a painful process. I have had to call the help-line at least once a week and their redeeming quality is that the customer service people are very friendly. However, if they don't know the answer to your question, they'll open a ticket with you (fairly normal). But then it could take them another TWO MONTHS to get back to you on your questions. And again, that's only AFTER you've emailed them and asked them for follow up. The other thing that is extremely frustrating is that they rarely know how to troubleshoot their own system. Not their fault, but it's so frustrating when I call and 50% of the time they say "Oh, you should be able to see (this) or you should be able to do (that)" and then I can't and then they have to open a ticket and I have to wait for weeks for the issue to be resolved.

I have small panic attacks when I think about how I'm going to be able to train my staff on this system, when it's so frustrating to use. Teachers and school staff have enough paperwork that they have to do, you'd think systems that are designed to help schools would be user friendly and easy to use. Not the case.

Do yourself a favor and DON'T buy or use Special Programs! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Amanda C.

Administrative Office Technician

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

Originally submitted 11/6/2020

"Ok, but not parent friendly"

3/5

What do you like best about PowerSchool Special Programs?

I like the organization on the side, each category is there to click on, that's the easiest bit of it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about PowerSchool Special Programs?

Otherwise, don't think it's very parent friendly. Sometimes you fill out information and it seems like you haven't finished it, or when you log in again it seems like you need to fill it out again. It's not very clear that it's done and doesn't need anything else to be completed. Other times you can't find information because it's not always there (for example, transportation info). I'd think that for a less computer savvy parent, it would be quite an ordeal to work with. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Natasha M.

Teacher

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

8/22/2021

Business partner of the seller or seller's competitor, not included in G2 scores.

"PowerSchool Tool"

4/5

What do you like best about PowerSchool Special Programs?

It is a great tool for grading, posting assignments, and for students to see how they are doing. It is also convenient for the Special Ed database to be on the same portal. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about PowerSchool Special Programs?

It frequently has tech issues both on the Special Ed Portal as well as on the Unified Classroom. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

11/5/2020

"Great suite of programs"

5/5

What do you like best about PowerSchool Special Programs?

The Powerschool suite of programs creates a great unified and streamlined process of utilizing data and connecting it to other part of the education system. We use all aspects of the Powerschool system from assessment to data management and it is nice to have it all in one location. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about PowerSchool Special Programs?

While Powerschool has grown and evolved tremendously, it still can be overwhelming to navigate through. While having multiple reports is nice to have, there are numerous ones that are not clear as to their intentions as well as use. Since I have District access, Powerschool, does not have a very streamlined method to also filter information easily. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering PowerSchool Special Programs:

It is really important to ensure that you partake in any professional learning that is offered as there is so much to this program and the suite of programs. It is necessary to be able to utilize the program to its fullest. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is PowerSchool Special Programs solving and how is that benefiting you?

Having access and the ability to use PowerSchool for multiple platforms is great! It makes it easy to pull data in when needed to justify decisions as well as look at longitudinal data. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

Originally submitted 12/10/2020

"Not a Fan"

1.5/5

What do you like best about PowerSchool Special Programs?

I like that it is relatively easy to navigate and parents can access it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about PowerSchool Special Programs?

It does not feel updated. I also hate that it logs me out after a certain amount of time and that it is not super friendly for putting classes in. Our school uses Canvas for normal grades and Powerschool for attendance and final grades. It's a bummer that we can not use both functions in one platform. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

11/15/2020

"PowerSchool"

2.5/5

What do you like best about PowerSchool Special Programs?

The best thing I like about PowerSchool is it is easy to use and user friendly. All of my Co-workers like PowerSchool and only have positive things to say about it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about PowerSchool Special Programs?

At this time there is nothing that I dislike about PowerSchool. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering PowerSchool Special Programs:

I recommend any one who is in the Education field to use this program. It has everything that you could possible need to help you with teaching. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is PowerSchool Special Programs solving and how is that benefiting you?

The program helped me solve problems with lesson plans and creating assignments. It gave me the necessary tools to help with these issues and to be more effective in the classroom. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

10/27/2020

"Great Tool"

5/5

What do you like best about PowerSchool Special Programs?

I highly recommend PowerSchool. It is very user friendly and gives you a ton of customization options. It is easy for all stakeholders to use and access from teachers, parents, admin and students. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about PowerSchool Special Programs?

I do not have any downsides. It'd be nice if it integrated more smoothly with Google Classroom for grading purposes, but that is not a huge downside since many do not integrate yet. I'm hoping that will come with time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Education Management

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4/29/2020

"As a parent of two highschoolers i feel it is easy to access grades"

5/5

What do you like best about PowerSchool Special Programs?

The display, format is organized per category Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about PowerSchool Special Programs?

1. Nothing

2. Logging in is time consuming Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Education Management

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

10/20/2019

"Powerschool is user friendly for many classroom tasks"

5/5

What do you like best about PowerSchool Special Programs?

Taking attendance is a breeze. Power teacher pro for grading is very user friendly. I love the backpack feature to quickly look at one student’s information. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about PowerSchool Special Programs?

Nothing. I can access a mobile version on my phone for fast attendance taking thing in the morning. Love it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.