Skyward
| Skyward Logo | |
| Private | |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Headquarters | Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA |
|
Key people
|
James King, Founder
Cliff King, CEO Scott Glinski, President |
| Website | www.skyward.com |
Skyward is a software company specializing in K–12 administrative software packages used in schools to manage and store information pertaining to Student Management, Human Resources, Financial Management, Food Service and Special Education. Skyward is a provider of school administrative software to more than 1,700 K-12 school districts worldwide.
Contents
Applications
Skyward applications are currently used for select school districts in 22 US States (with very high concentrations in Washington and Wisconsin),[1] as well as customers in Venezuela, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, China, Mexico, Switzerland, and India.[2] Skyward's applications are predominantly used by school district employees, such as superintendents, administrators, guidance counselors, teachers, nurses, business directors, technology coordinators, and human resources staff. Skyward provides a structure for school districts to save, access, and report many types of school district data, including state and federally required district reports.
Students' guardians use Skyward's Family Access product to check their students' grades, school schedules, food service accounts, and to communicate with teachers and other district staff. Students use Skyward's Student Access product to check their own grades and schedules, work on online assignments, and communicate with teachers.
History
1980 - 2000
Skyward was started by Jim King in 1980 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin under the name Jim King and Associates. King worked as a subcontracted employee for a variety of businesses around Wisconsin, writing human resources and accounting software for IBM 5100 computers. In 1981, King wrote software for Merrill Area Public Schools, which was subsequently purchased by three other districts in Wisconsin.
In 1984, Jim King and Associates incorporated as a company and adopted the name School Administrative Software, Incorporated (SASI)
In 1988 and 1992, SASI opened offices in St. Cloud, Minnesota and Bloomington, Illinois, respectively. In 1994, SASI purchased Matrix Computers, a special education administration software company, and SASI changed their name to Skyward, Inc. In 1998 and 1999, Skyward opened offices in Lansing, Michigan and Indiana.
2000 - 2010
In 2001, Skyward, Inc. partnered with the Washington School Information Processing Cooperative (WSIPC) to integrate into 297 districts throughout the state. In 2002, Skyward opened an office in Austin, Texas. In 2006, Skyward partnered with their first international customer, the American Embassy School in New Delhi, India. In this time, Skyward expanded sales to Utah, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Mexico, Tennessee and Florida.
2011 - Present
In 2011 the Texas Education Agency selected Skyward as a preferred vendor of student administrative software for Texas schools. In 2013, Rhode Island and Tennessee education departments both selected Skyward as a preferred vendor of student administrative software for their schools.
Awards
- 2008 Wisconsin Family Business of the Year
- 2012 eSchool Media Readers' Choice Award
- 2012, 2013, and 2014 District Administration Magazine Top 100 Products
- 2013 EdTech Digest Cool Tool Award
