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Add and Invite Student Contacts
Add and Invite Student Contacts

[For all Staff] Learn how to add Parents, Family, Approved Pickups, & Emergency Contacts to student profiles on the web/mobile app.

Sabrina avatar
Written by Sabrina
Updated this week

Adding student contacts is crucial for setting up brightwheel. A student's contact list determines which guardians will have access to their profile, what level of access, and how they can interact with their student and the program.

Student Contact Permissions

Administrators, Managers, and Lead Staff can choose from four contact types:

  • Parent

  • Family

  • Approved Pickup

  • Emergency Contact

View our Student Contact Permissions resource to learn more.

Add New Student Contacts

There are two options for adding student contacts with their email, or phone number:

  • Upload in Bulk: The fastest and most convenient way to add student information is through our Roster Upload Tool

  • Add Manually by Student: To learn how to add these contacts manually, follow the steps outlined below

Before you add students manually, take note that:

  • There are specific instructions for account setup if you are adding a student contact who is also a staff member at the same or another program using brightwheel. View our Using brightwheel as a Student Contact and Staff Member resource.

  • Mobile numbers must be valid US or Canadian numbers.

  • Invitations to join brightwheel are only sent to student contacts who have an email address and/or phone number added

  • If you've turned on the setting "Parents can edit student info," Parents will be able to add contacts to their child's profile.

Add Parent Contacts

On the Web

On the App

  1. Click on My School

  2. Open the Parents page

  3. Locate the applicable student

  4. On that student's row, click Add parent or + Add another parent

  5. Choose New
    💡 If the student contact is already added at the program for a sibling or related child, follow the steps below instead

  6. Add the parent's name and email address or phone number

  7. Click Save Contact

  8. Choose to send a brightwheel invitation now or later

  1. From a room, select the desired student

  2. Tap the Pencil icon to edit on Android or Profile on iOS

  3. Scroll down to the CONTACTS section and click the + icon

  4. Select the Contact Type in the popup

  5. Add the contact's information

  6. Tap Save

  7. Choose to send a brightwheel invitation now or later

Add Family Contacts

On the Web

On the App

  1. Click on My School

  2. Open the Parents page

  3. Jump to the Family tab

  4. Locate the applicable student

  5. On that student's row, click + Add family member

  6. Add the contact's name and email address or phone number

  7. Click Add Family

  8. Choose to send a brightwheel invitation now or later

  1. From a room, select the desired student

  2. Tap the Pencil icon to edit on Android or Profile on iOS

  3. Scroll down to the CONTACTS section and click the + icon

  4. Select the Contact Type in the popup

  5. Add the contact's information

  6. Tap Save

  7. Choose to send a brightwheel invitation now or later

Add Approved Pickup Contacts

On the Web

On the App

  1. Click on My School

  2. Open the Parents page

  3. Jump to the Approved Pickups tab

  4. Locate the applicable student

  5. On that student's row, click + Add approved pickup

  6. Add the contact's name and email address or phone number

  7. Click Add Approved Pickup

  8. Choose to send a brightwheel invitation now or later

  1. From a room, select the desired student

  2. Tap the Pencil icon to edit on Android or Profile on iOS

  3. Scroll down to the CONTACTS section and click the + icon

  4. Select the Contact Type in the popup

  5. Add the contact's information

  6. Tap Save

  7. Choose to send a brightwheel invitation now or later

Add Emergency Contacts

Emergency contacts require only a name and phone number and are not invited to create brightwheel accounts and cannot check a student in/out. They are listed on the student's profile for emergency purposes only.

On the Web

On the App

  1. Click on My School

  2. Open the Students page

  3. Click the student's name to open their profile

  4. Scroll down to the Contacts section

  5. Click + Add a contact

  6. Select Emergency Contact using the dropdown

  7. Add the contact's name, phone number, and relationship

  8. Click Save Contact

  1. From a room, select the desired student

  2. Tap the Pencil icon to edit on Android or Profile on iOS

  3. Scroll down to the CONTACTS section and click the + icon

  4. Select the Contact Type in the popup

  5. Add the contact's information

  6. Tap Save

Add Existing Student Contacts to Siblings

Once a contact is listed on one student profile at your program, they are considered an Existing Contact in your system. To link a student contact to additional students (i.e. siblings) attending your program they should be added using the Existing Contact flow that is outlined below. This lists them with the same information across all profiles, which allows them to view multiple children from one brightwheel account.

  1. Log in to brightwheel on the web

  2. Click on My School

  3. Open the Students page

  4. Select a student by clicking on their name

  5. Scroll down to the Contacts section and click + Add a contact

  6. Jump to the Existing tab in the pop-up
    ​💡The contact must first be listed on one student profile at the program before they can be added as an existing contact to subsequent students.

  7. Select relationship of the student contact to that student

  8. Select or type the desired contact name from the drop-down list

  9. Click Save Contact

ℹ️ Parents already connected to a student's profile will receive an email notification when a new contact is added to their child for security purposes.

Add Contacts Switching to a New Provider

It's common for student contacts to have already registered for brightwheel and have an existing account if their child attended a previous program, or currently attends multiple programs using brightwheel.Student contacts can be connected to multiple brightwheel programs at once, using one account.

To connect a contact who already has a brightwheel account to a student profile at your program:

  • Share their child's unique 10-digit code
    ​OR

  • Add them with the exact same contact information that's already associated with their current account. They can verify this information in their existing brightwheel account by tapping the three horizontal lines in the top left corner of the app, selecting Edit profile, and viewing their listed email address and/or phone number.

ℹ️ If parents want to remove old student profiles from their account, they can take steps to Remove a Student's Profile.

Invite Student Contacts to brightwheel Overview

Student Contacts added as Parents, Family, or Approved Pickups are authorized to create their own brightwheel accounts once added and invited. Providers have the option of inviting a student contact via: email invitation, SMS text message, or printable invitation.

  • Once invited, student contacts (Parent, Family, and Approved Pickups) can set up accounts on the Mobile App or the web. We highly encourage the App, so parents and family contacts will receive push notifications.

  • After parents sign up, they can immediately see their child’s profile. Contacts will only see the students they are assigned to by the school in brightwheel and they can view multiple students or siblings on one account.

  • Adding a contact will allow that guardian to view the student's profile, and removing a contact will rescind the guardian's access to that student's profile. The student profile must be created before you can add them as a contact.

💡Leverage our draft emails and printable overviews to tell families about brightwheel before inviting them!

Invitation Types

Providers can add contacts with a email address and/or phone number. How contacts are added determines if they receive an email, or SMS text message invitation.

ℹ️ If a contact is added with an email address and a phone number, the contact will receive an email invitation by default.

Email Invitation

Providers should add contacts with an email address if they wish for families to receive an email invitation.

SMS Text Invitation

Providers should add contacts with a phone number if they wish for families to receive a SMS text message invitation, or if they don't have an email on file for the contact.

Simply leave the email address field blank when creating the contact and enter a valid US or Canadian mobile number. The link in the text message will direct to the Brightwheel app or the app store if not yet downloaded.

Invite Contacts

Inviting new users to brightwheel is the easiest way to get them set up to use the brightwheel app.

Invite via Email/SMS Text Message on the Web

  1. Log in to your account on the web

  2. Click to expand My School on the purple sidebar & select Parents

  3. Jump between the Parents, Family, or Approved Pickups tabs at the top of the page

  4. Locate the previously added student contact you wish to invite

  5. Under the 'Signed Up' column, click Invite
    ​💡Under the 'Signed Up' column, click View invite to view a preview of the invitation!

  6. Once the invitation has been sent, the button will change to display an "Invite sent" confirmation message

Invite via Email/SMS Text Message on the App

  1. Log in to the app

  2. Tap Rooms and select the child's room

  3. Click the student's profile

  4. Tap Profile in the top-right corner

  5. Under "Contacts," tap the contact to invite

  6. Tap Invite to join Brightwheel at the bottom

  7. A confirmation banner will appear at the top when the invite is successfully sent

Invite via 10-Digit Code

The 10-digit code is the child's unique ID in Brightwheel automatically assigned when the student profile is created. This code allows Parents to link their existing account to the student's profile at a program. In cases where you do not have an email or phone number to invite parents, they can create a brightwheel account on their own and use a specific 10-digit code to connect their account with their student.

If you have already added a parent's email address to their child's profile, they will automatically be connected to their child and will NOT need a 10-digit code.

Locate 10-digit Invite Code on the Web

If you are asked for a student's 10-digit code, providers can easily find and provide this to a parent contact.

  1. Log in to your account on the web

  2. Click to expand My School and then select Students

  3. Select the appropriate student's name

  4. Directly under the 'Contacts' section, the parent invite code is listed in the paragraph above the table of contacts

  5. Provide the code to the appropriate parent contact so they can connect with their child's account

Provide physical handouts with a 10-digit code

If you'd like to provide paper copies of the parent invitations that include the 10-digit code, this is also possible!

  1. Log in to your account on the web

  2. Click to expand My school and then select Parents

  3. Under the 'Signed Up' column, click View invite

  4. Scroll down to the bottom of the preview and click Download invites

  5. Download and print the handouts to share with parents!

Track Student Contact Sign Ups

Once invited, track the status of your parents’ sign-up on the web.

  1. Log in to your account on the web

  2. Click to expand My School and then select Parents

  3. Jump between the Parents, Family, or Approved Pickups tabs at the top of the page

  4. Review the status under the 'Signed Up' column for each student

    1. A Signed Up status means they have completed the setup and logged in

    2. A Remind status means the parent invite was sent but they have not yet signed up

Questions? Check out our Student Contact Management FAQs & Troubleshooting resource.

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Student Management Overview
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View Student Profile as a Parent
Manage Student Contacts
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