Jupiter

Pros: I like the "help" support; I don't think I've ever had to ask anyone else to support me because of the accessible information. Great that teachers can edit the contact information and add/delete students from classes. Also, options to weight graders, record extra credit and edit codes such as "incomplete", etc.

Cons: I don't think there are any cons. I and my families use JupiterEd more frequently than Aeries, our district database and parent portal, due to how easy it is for parents and guardians to access the app and communicate directly with teachers.

Overall: I have used JupiterEd for almost 10 years! Our PTO has always approved the expenditure for middle school since our district uses a different system and will not fund use of JupiterEd. (Lately, this has changed due to COVID and a desire to honor communication systems put in place whether or not they are considered "redundant".) Since COVID, I'm less likely to post information and links to assignments in JupiterEd, since I use Google Classroom for that purpose. I know that JupiterEd can be linked to GC and am exploring how this can serve my purposes.

Pros: I love Jupiter Grades and have used it for 15 years. It is very user-friendly for both teachers and families. When our district began to use another grading program, the teachers were so angry we paid for it out of our own pockets, the district agreed to pay for us to continue to use it for 2 more years. Unfortunately, we can not use it anymore and we have had to use another inferior program.
I liked that students and parents had easy access to their grades without having to go through our district to get a password.
You can print progress reports easily for parent signatures for those parents who do not check their child's grades or email.
It is easy to make seating charts.
It is a well-thought-out grading program.

Cons: I can honestly say I can not think of anything I didn't like.

Overall: It is the best grading and parent communication program I have ever used.

Pros: The responsiveness of the Help team has always been timely and detailed. The whole format is useful.

Cons: Beginning of the year, it's always a struggle to figure out how to start new gradebooks.

Overall: I am comfortable with the format and use only some of the features. I would like to know more about the features we do not use.