Last updated: October 1, 2026
A small school needs a student information system that keeps student records, takes attendance, holds grades, issues transcripts, enrolls new students, reaches families and collects payments. The person who runs your office, who is often also a teacher, should be able to set it up alone. And it should hand every record back to you whenever you ask. This guide is for co-ops, microschools, hybrid schools, university-model schools, classical schools and small private academies.
A student information system, usually called an SIS, is the place where your school's records live. When you choose one, think ahead to what your school will still need in a year, and what you can take with you if you leave.
What a small school needs from a student information system¶
Start with the work your school does every week. Write down who does each job today. Then look for a system that takes that job off a person, without asking you to change how your school runs.
Student records¶
Every student needs one place for contact details, guardians, birthdate, medical notes, emergency contacts and the documents you collect at enrollment. At a small school the same family often has three children in three different classes. The record system should show those children together under one family and still keep each child's file separate.
Attendance¶
Many small schools meet two or three days a week, or run a mix of in-person days and at-home days. Attendance has to fit that calendar. Check that you can mark which days your school meets, and that the attendance screen shows only those days. Ask to see how a part-week schedule looks before you commit. Also ask how a student who joins a single class, or a family that visits for a trial day, gets recorded.
Grades¶
Some schools give letter grades, some give written feedback, and some give both depending on the age of the child. Multi-age classes are common, so one class may hold students of several grade levels. Check that you can set up your grading scale yourself, and that a teacher who has never used the system can enter grades without a walkthrough.
Transcripts¶
A transcript is the document a college, another school or a state office asks for, often years after a student has left. It should come out as a file that someone outside your school can read, with the course names, credits and grades your school actually used. Ask to see a sample transcript before you commit to anything.
Enrollment¶
Enrollment is where a family first meets your school. An application, a decision and a student record should connect, so nobody types the same details twice. If enrollment lives in a separate tool from your records, find out how the two are joined.
Family communication¶
Parents want to see their own child's grades and attendance and hear from teachers. At a co-op, a parent may also be a teacher, so one person can have more than one role. Check that each parent sees only their own children, and that a parent who teaches can still see what a teacher sees.
Payments¶
Tuition and club fees both need to be recorded and receipted. Some schools take card payments inside the system. Others record checks and transfers by hand. Either way, a family should be able to see what they owe and what they have paid, and nobody should have to ask for money in a parking lot.
How to run a fair trial¶
Pick two or three systems and give each the same small test. Use five real students from three families, one teacher who has never seen the system, and one parent who also teaches. Ask them to do the jobs below, and write down how long each one takes and where each person got stuck.
- Add the five students and link them to their families.
- Mark attendance for one week that includes a day off.
- Enter grades for two classes, one with letter grades and one with written feedback.
- Produce a transcript for one student.
- Export everything and open the file on another computer.
The person who will do this job every week should run the test, not the person who handles the purchase. If the office manager finishes without help, you have learned more than any feature list can tell you.
Questions to ask any vendor¶
Bring this list to every demo and every sales call. Write the answers down so you can compare them later.
- Can I export every record, at any time, in a file I can open without your software? Your records belong to your school. If the answer is vague, that tells you something.
- What happens to my data if I stop paying? You want a clear answer about how long you can still get your records and in what format.
- Is the price published, and what does it depend on? If you have to book a call to learn the price, ask what the number is based on, such as the number of students.
- Is there a setup fee or a contract length? A school with a tight budget should know the full first-year cost before signing.
- What is free, and does free expire? A free tier that ends after a trial is a trial. Ask what stays free after the first month and after the first year.
- Can I set it up myself? Ask who at your school would do the setup, and how long the vendor's own customers say it took.
- Can each parent see only their own children? Ask the vendor to show you, with two test families.
- Does it handle our schedule? Part-week meetings, multi-age classes and parents who teach are all normal in a small school. Make the vendor show each one.
- Who can see student records, and how are roles set? You should be able to decide what a teacher and a parent can each see.
What you should not have to pay for¶
Some work is what a school needs in order to exist. Keeping student records, taking attendance, issuing a transcript and enrolling a student fall in that group. So does getting your own data back out. Look for a system where these sit outside any paywall and outside any trial that ends.
Check your own budget against the full year, not the first month. A school with eight students and a school with eighty have very different bills under the same pricing, so ask for the price at your size today and at the size you hope to reach in two years. Ask what happens to the price when a family leaves mid-year or a new one joins in January.
Paying for more than that can be reasonable. Extra depth, higher volume, added convenience and someone else's labor all cost real money to provide. If a vendor charges for these, you can decide whether the time saved is worth the price.
The question to ask is simple: if I paid nothing, could my school still keep its records and hand a transcript to a family? If the answer is no, you are paying to exist.
Get your data out before you need to¶
Do not wait until you are leaving to find out what an export looks like. On your first day, add a test student and export everything. Open the files on a computer that does not have the system installed. Check that names, grades, attendance and contact details are all there.
Then make a habit of it:
- Save a full copy at the end of every term or school year.
- Keep the copy somewhere your school controls, not only inside the vendor's account.
- Check that a transcript comes out as a file a college or another school can read.
Know who owns the records. They belong to the school and to the families who gave them to you. A good vendor says so plainly, in writing, and makes leaving easy.
Where NavEd fits¶
NavEd is one option. It was built for the way small schools actually run, by someone who grew up in one.
The first five students are free on every plan, with no trial and no expiration. Keeping records, taking attendance, issuing a transcript, enrolling a student and getting your own data back out are never behind a paywall. If you want to see what a larger school would pay for the added depth, see the pricing calculator.
Whichever system you choose, run it through the questions above first. A school that asks them gets better answers, and a vendor who answers them clearly is one you can plan a year around.