The Seattle Public Schools district recently sent out an email alerting families and staff about an unauthorized grade-viewing app called “The Source: SPS” for iOS. The district advised users to immediately delete the app due to its similarities to the official district portal, The Source, and the unauthorized use of the district’s name and logo by the developers of the app. The district confirmed that the developer did not have access to any SPS data, such as logins, passwords, and grades, as this information is stored locally on each user’s personal device. The district expressed its commitment to stopping the misleading marketing of this application to the SPS community.
GeekWire investigated the issue and discovered that the app was originally developed by Evan Mazor, a 2023 Roosevelt High School graduate who is studying computer science at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Mazor had been offering “The Source: SPS” for free for three years before the app was acquired by a company called GradePro. GradePro then began migrating users of the app to its own platform, which included a subscription option costing $7.99 per year. Mazor announced the acquisition on LinkedIn, highlighting the success of the app in terms of monthly active users, total downloads, and positive App Store ratings. The app was designed as a user-friendly interface for an outdated gradebook system in the Seattle Public Schools district, providing additional features such as a GPA calculator and attendance data that were not offered by the district.
Following the district’s notification, “The Source: SPS” was removed from the App Store after GeekWire forwarded the email to GradePro and its parent company, Sparksuite. Wesley Cossick of GradePro confirmed via email that the company had always planned to migrate users to GradePro and discontinue the original app. He expressed excitement about providing users with more features and reliability through GradePro and stated that the migration process had already been completed the week before. While the app was popular among students and parents in the Seattle Public Schools district, GradePro intended to offer an enhanced experience through their platform.
Overall, the situation surrounding the unauthorized grade-viewing app “The Source: SPS” involved the app being developed by a former SPS student, Evan Mazor, before being acquired by GradePro. Despite the app’s success and popularity among users, the developers decided to migrate users to GradePro and discontinue the original app. The district’s email warning users to delete the app was in response to the unauthorized use of their name and logo by the developers. Moving forward, users will have access to more features and reliability through GradePro, following the completion of the migration process from “The Source: SPS” to the GradePro platform. Further information is being sought from the Seattle Public Schools district to provide additional clarity on the situation.
