We have been using SASI for the past three years here in Vergennes. The
program works well for us but there are some missing pieces. There is no web
interface and no report writer. The new version 5.0 has a report writer that
will require considerable training but we have not moved to version 5.0 yet.
I am interested to hear from schools who have made the switch. I have heard
from the support people that the grading module has bugs that they are
working on.

We are using SASI in three k-6 schools for basic demographic data and
attendance. There is also a health module but we find that it is very
limited. In our high school we are using the full version of SASI for period
attendance and we send attendance letters using Word. We use InteGrade Pro
for grading which interfaces with SASI's grading module. Progress reports
are printed from Integrade. We print report cards and do all of the
scheduling and transcripts.

The program has worked quite well and the big factor is proper training. I
seem to recall that we spent as much on training in the first couple of
years as we did on the software. The training is important for any school
that wants to get the most out of the software.

Setup and implementation were handled by SASI support personnel and the
maintenance is straightforward requiring patches to be periodically
installed. We receive our support from Weidenhammer systems which is a
sub-contractor for SASI. They have been extremely helpful, knowledgeable,
and easy to work with.

If you have any specific questions feel free to contact me directly.

Bob Owens
Educational Technology Coordinator
Addison NW Supervisory Union
15 N. Main St.
[log in to unmask]
http://anwsu.org
Vergennes, VT 05491
802 877-3332
fax 802 877-3628


----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Gervais" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 4:24 PM
Subject: Student Info databases


> Our school is investigating making a transition from Chancery's MacSchool
> to other possible systems.  We are trying to compare Apple's Powerschool,
> Pearson's SASI, and Chancery's latest product SMS 2.0.  I've done some
> research, but the administration has asked for examples from other
> schools.  So...  Some of our major needs are; web-based interface,
> ease-variety of reporting/analysis, levels of training/help quality, ease
> of implementation (particularly from the server administrator angle!),
> along with typical features like grades, scheduler, etc.  If anyone out
> there has experience with any of these systems (or has another idea worth
> looking at) and could comment on any likes/dislikes I would greatly
> appreciate it.  You don't need to be too detailed, but if I could contact
> you off the list just let me know.  thankyou very much,
>
> Rob Gervais
> Technology Coordinator
> Enosburg Graded School District
> Enosburg, VT 05450