Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


PowerSchool to Acquire SEL Provider Kickboard

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 11/12/21

Education technology company PowerSchool has announced it will acquire Kickboard, which produces K-12 education behavior management software, to help educators manage social emotional learning (SEL) and multi-tiered systems of support. PowerSchool offers a number of products, including a K-12 student information system, a learning management system and enterprise resource planning. However, this specific purchase fills a gap since the company lacks dedicated software in the SEL realm.

"This announcement represents PowerSchool's continued commitment to helping ensure students can get the support they need for future success as lifelong learners," wrote PowerSchool CEO Hardeep Gulati in a message to customers. "I couldn't be more excited about bringing Kickboard into the PowerSchool family. Addressing students' social emotional well-being and mental health is critical, not just for schools and districts, but for our families and communities. By adding Kickboard's solutions, we're taking an important step to providing real, comprehensive insights that give educators a complete view of the whole student."

Eventually, PowerSchool officials noted, integration of the two companies' technology will enable schools to:

  • Centralize behavior management and reporting, including SEL, positive behavior intervention and support (PBIS), MTSS, overall student performance and professional development programs; and

  • Gain visibility to the "whole child," combining SEL well-being and mental health data with student performance, academic outcomes, demographic data and attendance.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The two companies said they expected the acquisition "to close soon."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • teacher holding laptop in the class at school

    80% of Teachers Are Using AI Tools in the Classroom

    In a recent survey by PreK-12 marketplace TPT, 80% of educators reported using generative AI tools in their classrooms. The majority (58%) said they use AI regularly or occasionally, while 22% have tried it once or twice.

  • Digital cyberspace with particles and Digital data

    Survey: AI Is Moving Faster than Data Trust

    AI agents are already in use or pilot at most organizations, but data visibility, governance and precision recovery capabilities have not kept pace, according to a new survey from Veeam Software.

  • Neon blue security locks with a single red highlight

    With AI, Cybersecurity Focus Shifts from Finding Flaws to Fixing Them

    For decades, one of cybersecurity's biggest challenges has been finding vulnerabilities before attackers do. A growing number of security professionals now say artificial intelligence is changing that equation, shifting the focus from discovering flaws to fixing them quickly enough to prevent exploitation.

  • Human Hand Assembling Digital Data Blocks

    Report: AI Impact Starts Relies on Strong Data Foundation

    High-impact AI implementations are more likely to treat data architecture, governance, and operationalization as strategic requirements, according to the 2026 Blueprint report from TDWI.