School Mate Publishing (schoolmatepublishing.com) has a 4.3 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 60 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Media & Publishing and its reputation is good. 78% of reviews are 4 stars or higher and 7% are 1 star; The business has replied to 63% of negative reviews. Last updated 2026-08-10.
The books were supposed to arrive 2 weeks before school got out for the summer. Ut they arrived 3 days after school was out from the summer. When I called to inquire about when they would be shipped, the woman I spoke to was rude and wanted to argue about when I shipped it to the company. I will not use this company again but will use the tried and true one I used prior to this one.
Reply from School Mate Publishing2026-06-17
Thank you for your feedback. We understand your disappointment that the order did not arrive before the end of the school year. While our timelines are estimates, factors outside our control—such as high demand during our peak season can occasionally impact delivery dates.
We also regret that your experience when seeking an update did not meet expectations. We take pride in our customer support and are sorry we fell short in this instance. Your feedback is valuable and we appreciate you giving School Mate the opportunity to be part of your project.
The books are great quality. The only I would change is the turnaround time to get them back is a month. It's hard to get them back in time for the end of the school year.
This is an amazing company!! Our books turned out amazing. We were able to teach kids about the writing and publishing process by using this kit. So many families bought our book as a keepsake!
I'll Definitely Be Doing This EVERY Year with this company!
I was able to communicate with staff with just a phone call, everything on the website was step-by-step EASY! The finished books were delivered as expected and I was notified through UPS as soon as they were delivered. The books are of high quality, well put together and absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!
THIS IS NOT A FUNDRAISER. You are putting in 20 hours+ so a private company can enrich themselves off public school kids. Yup. Not a dime goes to the school or the teacher.
From getting the kits- which they decided where a scam and didn't start to send them out until a month later when I called to tell them- "No, I really do want 11 kits. 1 per elem. class." all the way to shipping and getting our books- which instead of arriving on the last day of school arrived 2 days later. AFTER school ended :( Nothing was good. There is no communication started from their end. I initiated all communication for every delay, set back and glitch. This was a nightmare. I would warn anyone I liked from using them. I would, however, tell my worst enemy to go for it and enjoy the ride! (It was one headache after another. )
Reply from School Mate Publishing2026-06-15
While our company does offer other fundraising products, the Classroom Books are separate and are not offered or advertised as a fundraiser.
School Mate® is privately owned and supported by a team of employees dedicated to delivering quality work. Even during peak season and on challenging projects, we strive to perform at our highest level, including completing and delivering books more than a week ahead of schedule. We regret that this did not meet your expectations. We remain committed to quality, clear communication, and a pleasant customer experience.
Great quality book, however they don’t abide by their guidelines regarding when you’ll receive your books. We worked so hard to get our book complete by a certain date to get it mailed out by a deadline that would give us our book before school ended. When I inquired about the ship date I was told it’s just an estimate and they were behind with production. I asked them to overnight the box and they refused.
Reply from School Mate Publishing2026-06-15
Thank you for your feedback! We’re glad to hear you were pleased with the quality of your books. While our production dates are estimates, we understand that you relied on the timeline provided when planning your project, and we regret any inconvenience this caused. We aim to meet all estimated ship dates; however, during peak seasons, some orders may ship a few days later than expected, as was the case here. We’re unable to offer expedited shipping due to cost constraints, but we remain committed to producing and fulfilling orders as efficiently and reliably as possible. We truly appreciate the opportunity to be part of your project and hope to work with you again in the future.
This is my 4th year doing this activity with my 2nd graders. I like it because it's easy to navigate the web site, I think it's a great product, and my students and parents really enjoy the book as a keepsake.
Reply from School Mate Publishing2026-06-11
Thank you for continuing to use us and for your feedback!
After my books being sent way after the date on the calendar the corners of the books were bent from shipping. I will never order from them again.
Reply from School Mate Publishing2026-06-11
Thank you for your feedback. We sincerely apologize that your books did not arrive in the condition you expected.
While we try to meet our estimated production times, heavy seasonal demand can sometimes create a delay. More importantly, the bent corners of the books is something we definitely want to address, so thank you for bringing it to our attention.
A member of our team will be reaching out to you shortly to learn more about the damage and work toward a resolution. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention and the opportunity to address your concerns.
Working with Schoolmate was such an amazing experience! My kids are so excited about and proud of their book! It is such a beautifully bound book and the quality is unmatched. I will now do a book every year with every class! I couldn't recommend Schoolmate more strongly and neither can my kids!
The shipment took a lot longer than was estimated. The process was easy and the books came out very nice.
Reply from School Mate Publishing2026-06-11
Thank you for your feedback. We're glad to hear that you found the process easy and that you were pleased with the quality of your books, and we hope they are enjoyed! We apologize that your shipment took longer than expected. We strive to keep our production schedule on time as we understand how important timely delivery is. Unfortunately, orders can fall a few days behind during our peak season as in the case with your books. We continually work to meet our production timelines as closely as possible even during the busiest of times.
This is my second year doing this project and I LOVE it! I absolutely love the new upgrades to the online portal that allow teachers to scan and edit their books virtually. The families were so excited to receives their books. It is a wonderful keepsake from my classroom. Thank you for providing this very special service.
The book was beautifully done and easy but it was a couple of weeks late which made it hard to use as graduation gifts for parents .
Reply from School Mate Publishing2026-06-11
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We're happy to hear that you were pleased with the finished books and found the ordering process straight-forward.
We apologize that your order took longer to arrive than anticipated. We understand how important it is to receive your books on time, especially projects with specific deadlines. We strive to keep our production schedule on time.
Unfortunately, orders can fall a few days behind during our peak season as in the case with your order. We continually work to meet our production timelines as closely as possible even during the busiest of times.
Your feedback is valuable, and we thank you for choosing School Mate!
This is my 10th year in partnership with School Mate!…
This SY was my 10th year to have partnership with School Mate Publishing in producing our 2nd grade class book. I am very pleased with School Mate Publishing. It never fails to deliver their promise of quality book each year. Every time I have a question, the customer service responded promptly to address my concern. The parents of my students are very happy and contented. I would always recommend you to my colleagues!
Their customer service team were very helpful when I didn't think I would get my book published on time. The quality of the product is always exceptional, and very timely too. I highly recommend this to any teacher. Parents love the book and cherish it as a keepsake of their child's educational journey.
