OnCourse Connect vs Start Elementary School
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
OnCourse Connect
Access your student portal on the go. View grades, assignments, attendance, schedules, and fees. Receive push notifications for important updates and manage multiple student accounts easily.
- View grades and assignments
- Track attendance
- Access class schedules
- Check school fees
- Manage push notifications
- Switch between multiple student accounts
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The OnCourse Connect app provides convenient mobile access to the OnCourse Connect student portal on your phone or tablet. Students, parents and guardians can easily view grades, assignments, attendance, class schedules, school fees, student calendars and more. Manage push notifications of grade changes and other events. Parents and guardians can easily switch between multiple student accounts to stay up to date on all their students. If your district uses the OnCourse Classroom Learning Management System (LMS), the Connect mobile app integrates with the OnCourse Classroom mobile app so students can submit work, message teachers and more via their mobile device. PLEASE NOTE: Your school district must be using the OnCourse Student Information system for you to access the OnCourse Connect app. An OnCourse Connect account login is required to use this application. Contact your school or district for more information.
Start Elementary School
This app connects parents, students, teachers, and administrators with school news, event calendars, and online resources. It provides quick access to essential information to keep the school community informed and engaged.
- School news updates
- Interactive event calendars
- Access to online resources
- Connect school community
- Stay informed
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The Start Elementary School app enables parents, students, teachers and administrators to quickly access the resources, tools, news and information to stay connected and informed! The Start Elementary School app features: - Important news from your school - Interactive resources including event calendars and more - Quick access to online resources
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Start Elementary School at 4.0 against OnCourse Connect's 2.0. Start Elementary School also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). OnCourse Connect's advantage is ratings volume (192 vs 4) and review sentiment (12% vs 0%). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Start Elementary School holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OnCourse Connect has 192 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 12% of OnCourse Connect's written reviews are positive against 0% of Start Elementary School's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
OnCourse Connect ships an update every 6 weeks, Start Elementary School every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | OnCourse Connect | Start Elementary School |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.0 (192 ratings) | 4.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 12.2% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 192 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 70 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | OnCourse Systems For Education | Richland Parish School District |
Customer experience
OnCourse Connect
Start Elementary School
Bugs and requests
OnCourse Connect
Reported bugs
13 issues- Login system rejects correct credentials
- Password reset loop - new password rejected immediately
- Attendance tab displays black screen
- App crashes when switching between students
- Update required message appears despite being on latest version
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- App logs out users unexpectedly
- Grades and classes disappear after app updates
- Assignment grades disappear when past due date
- App freezes on loading screen
- Cannot toggle back to student view without closing app
- Google login shows white screen
- App crashes when switching between tabs
- Inconsistent update notifications
Requested features
6 requests- Google Student login integration
- Remember me/auto-login functionality
- Face ID/biometric authentication that actually works
- Back button for navigation
- Better attendance tracking system
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Improved assignment instructions display
Start Elementary School
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
OnCourse Connect
No in-app purchases
Start Elementary School
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is OnCourse Connect free?
Is Start Elementary School free?
Which has better reviews, OnCourse Connect or Start Elementary School?
Do OnCourse Connect or Start Elementary School have ads?
Which is updated more often, OnCourse Connect or Start Elementary School?
Other comparisons
