GreatSchools.net was created in 1998 to reciprocate parents’ demand for online resources on K-12 education. Years later, it emerged as the one-stop website for parents seeking great schools for their children. Parents and students drop by GreatSchools to find the best schools, get professional advice, or swap views and stories. In a way, GreatSchools is partly responsible for the success of many individuals and local schools.

The site is a vast repository of information with sweeping profiles of no less than 120,000 private, public, and charter schools across the US, including 100,000 preschools. It is even has ratings of the country’s schools. The site is a tool for searching and comparing schools within a district or a specified address. It also provides the latest test results for one’s school, like state high school exit exams, and teacher statistics.

GreatSchools.net has an archive of articles relevant to K-12 education, plus data about learning a second language. It features helpful advice compiled by a panel of professionals, on choosing schools, moving with one’s children, tutorials, homework, standardized tests, college prep, health, and even bullying. GreatSchools’ grade-by-grade resources are available to students from preschool to high school. In addition to these, members of the site receive customized newsletters by e-mail.

On top of expert advice, GreatSchools provides a venue for parents to build groups and a thriving online community.

GreatSchools’ commitment to helping learners with special needs is also singular. The Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation has entrusted the content of its SchwabLearning.org site to GreatSchools since December 2007.

The GreatSchools website was awarded the People’s Voice Webby Award for Best Family/Parenting site in 2007 and 2008’s Webby for Best Ratings/Reviews site. Adjudged one of 2007’s best database information publishing websites, GreatSchools is a six-time winner in the Professional Journalism Awards Competition of the Peninsula Press Club.

Over 30 million people visit GreatSchools per year. Despite its success, GreatSchools is not seeking profit. It is sustained by the funding of top-tier philanthropies such as the Walton Family Foundation, Robertson Foundation and the Doris & Donald Fisher Fund.

Visit this website to donate to Great Schools.