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Senior Systems is at the center of everything. Our single, central database of record empowers independent schools to manage data effectively and efficiently. Senior Systems is an industry leader, with over 20+ years experience providing independent schools with comprehensive solutions for student information management. Also, our extensive experience and deep understanding of this private/independent school marketplace and its unique user-base provides additional value to every partnership.
Provider
Senior Systems
Located In
United States
Foundation
1992
Open API
Unverified
Deployment
Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based
Training
Documentation, Live Online, Webinars, In Person
Support
Chat
Independent Schools, Private Schools, Boarding Schools, and Day Schools.
Content Source: Ascendance Software
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Ascendance Software Reviews
"An outdated product of a bygone time"
Overall: I walked into an environment with a Senior System instance on a local server on campus and the transition to Ascendance was already underway. Thankfully I missed a lot of the process for designing and engineering the online version. I just had to help with data transfers at the end. But we have been using them for over a decade and other than moving to RDP from Citrix because of a core component issue they couldn't out engineer and moving everyone over there hasn't been much of any change to the products. We were promised the replacement, RADIUS, for a time starting a decade ago, but it had such poor reviews on its introduction I don't even know if it is still offered and haven't heard of anyone using it. The interfaces are still horrendous by any modern standard and the jarring experience transitioning between any modern designed application and Ascendance is ire inducing. And that's just the visual aspect. The other issue is that because it is based on a bloated core database structure that has been added to so much over three decades that they are unable to unpack much, the functionality lags behind the times. Asking for removal of forced pronouns or labeling of primary parent as father is like pulling teeth and while they can mask it somewhat, there are basic funtions that still treat that data the way it originated. Modern family structures of multiple parents, varying genders, generations, and households seem to stump the product... and so, so much more.
Pros: Ascendance was one of the first major school database programs to transition to a hosted version and offer the integrations to school websites that came with that.
Cons: The thing I like least has been watching the slow death of a juggernaut. Where it was a robust but complicated family of products the need to talk to support has always frequent, but the bench for people in the support department who knew the product, understood the ways in which schools used it, and were personable and skilled communicators was deep. Over time it has become a game of chance, hoping you'd get someone who knows what they were doing.
""Training Issues""
Overall: No benefits.
Pros: Nothing to like; very cumbersome, have to utilize work-arounds.
Cons: Lack of uniformity between applications (can move an item in an AR batch but not a AP batch, voiding a check voids the invoice as well, have to select which bank account a check will be drawn on before entering an invoice, ...)
"System is down to often"
Overall: It's horrible, wish our school would have never chose those company!
Pros: School wide use, when it's up and working!
Cons: That they are always having connectivity issues! All of our employees waste a whole day of work! Followed up by their scheduled Maintenance which we all have to be out of sometimes for 2 days at a time.
