Former Apple subsidiary PowerSchool never lost its Mac stripes
I logged on to PowerSchool for the first time the other day (my daughter’s school delays its use until third grade) and had to chuckle at its startlingly Mac-like appearance. But I can’t say I was surprised.
Back in 2001 Apple acquired PowerSchool, a small Folsom, Calif.-based company that had developed a Web-based student information system parents could use to track their child’s grades and assignments.
Though Apple sold PowerSchool to Pearson Education in 2006, the company’s five-year association with Apple clearly never wore off.
The look and feel of the PowerSchool site closely mimics that of Mac OS X, but is stuck in the Jaguar era (OS X 10.2) -- right down to the background pinstripes.
(click to view larger image)
Even better than the nostalgia for bygone versions of OS X is PowerSchool’s calendar option. In addition to logging in to the site to check on your child’s attendance, assignments and test scores, you can enable a subscription feature that downloads the data over the Internet and loads it into your calendar application.
Well, you can if your computer happens to be a Mac. The subscription calendars work exclusively with Apple’s iCal.
Oh, the delicious irony! How many times have Mac owners experienced the frustration of encountering “Windows-only” features? For once, the tables are turned.
True, PC owners can get all the same information I can via the Web site. But I can get it in a different, more flexible format. You’ll have to pardon me for gloating.
All that aside, PowerSchool is a superb tool for helping parents stay on top of their child’s academic activities. Every school should use it, or something like it
Comments
when you refer to "iCal" only access, are you sure that you don't mean 'calDav'?
cuz apple uses both webdav and caldav precisely be ause they are open standards, not closed like msft is!
you need to double-check & update accordingly.
Posted by: zahadum | October 9, 2008 11:46 AM
I am the Tech Director for a school district who uses Powerschool.
Powerschool was a privately owned company before being bought by Apple, and we've had it for 6 years or so. Apple bought it after we adopted it, and little changed as it was designed by people on Apples. I know one of the first PS employees. So the impression "Apple made it their own" is a tad misleading. However, it SURE IS Mac-like!
Posted by: Les Kern | October 9, 2008 12:51 PM
@zahadum
Upon further review, it appears you are correct. It is possible to subscribe to PowerSchool calendars with a Windows PC if you have a calendar app that can read .ics files. The wording on my calendar page referred only to iCal, but it turns out the site recognizes the operating system you are using and changes the message accordingly. A detour into Windows XP via Parallels told the tale.
PowerSchool advises Windows users
to visit the iCalShare Web site to "find an application that supports the vCalendar standard."
I verified it with Mozilla's Sunbird, though it is still a beta. Also, the Windows Calendar app included with Vista supports the iCalendar format.
I shoulda known.
Posted by: Dave Zeiler | October 9, 2008 1:36 PM
@Les
I took Apple's influence for granted. It appears PowerSchool was full of Macheads before Apple acquired it, though I'd guess that was part of the attraction.
Posted by: Dave Zeiler | October 9, 2008 1:41 PM
You may also check out PowerSchool's PowerTeacher gradebook. Its a rich client application used by teachers to log grades. It was started when PowerSchool was still part of Apple. Its UI is very apple like. It also runs on Windows.
http://www.powerschool.com/features/powerteacher.htm
Posted by: Anonymous | October 9, 2008 2:10 PM
Powerschool has had to be removed from a number of the schools I work for here in canada, because they do not support the canadian market anymore. Which really bites, Blackbaud has replaced Powerschool in all of these institutions.
Sigh, just when I'd almost gotten rid of all the PC's with windows.
Posted by: rand | October 10, 2008 9:48 AM