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Manage Student Contacts as a Parent

[For Guardians] Learn how parents can add, manage, and remove additional student contacts on a child's profile.

Sabrina avatar
Written by Sabrina
Updated over 6 months ago

Parent contacts with edit permissions can effortlessly add and manage Student Contacts including other Parent contacts, Family, Approved Pickup, and Emergency Contacts) in a student's profile.

The provider will not be alerted when a new contact is added. brightwheel recommends communicating with the provider if there are any changes to the list of people who are approved to pick up a student.

Contacts Types & Access

Each student contact type has a different level of access to a student’s profile and brightwheel features. Learn more about permissions for Contact Types: Parents, Family, Approved Pickups, and Emergency Contacts.

Add a New Contact

Parents with edit permissions can update a student's profile and add contacts via the web or mobile app. New Parent, Family, or Approved Pickup contacts can immediately create a brightwheel account and are associated with the student in brightwheel.

ℹ️ Updating a student's profile or contact list may be restricted by the provider's permissions. If you are only able to view and not edit a profile, a "This profile is available to view only" banner will appear. In this case, if you are unable to add a contact, please reach out to your provider requesting they add the contact on your behalf.

On the Web

On the App

  1. Click My Children on the purple sidebar

  2. Select the student's account by clicking on their name

  3. Scroll down to the 'Contacts' section and click + Add a Contact

  4. Select the appropriate Contact Type from the dropdown menu

  5. Fill in the relevant contact information

  6. Click Save Contact

  7. Choose to send an invitation to join brightwheel now or at a later date

  1. Open the student’s profile by tapping on their name

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

  3. Scroll down to locate the 'Contacts' section

  4. Click the ➕ sign

  5. Select the 'Contact Type'

  6. Fill in the 'Personal Details' and 'Account Info'

  7. When finished, click Save

💡It's also important to note that when a Parent contact type is added, and the program uses billing, this student contact will automatically be added as a payer. Learn more about Primary Payers and what this means.

Modify or Remove A Student Contact

Parent contacts with edit permission have the ability to edit or remove other contacts from a student's profile at any time.

On the Web

On the App

  1. Click My Children on the purple sidebar

  2. Select the student's account by clicking on their name

  3. Scroll down to the 'Contacts' section and click Edit

  4. To update:

    1. On the appropriate contact's row, click Update

    2. Make changes

    3. Click Save Contact

  5. To remove:

    1. On the appropriate contact's row, click Remove

    2. Click Remove again

  1. Open your student’s profile by tapping on their name

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

  3. Scroll down to locate the 'Contacts' section

  4. Click the appropriate contact to open their profile

  5. To update:

    1. Update the First Name, Last Name, Phone Number, and Relationship fields as needed

    2. Click Save

  6. To remove:

    1. Click Delete and then Delete again

💡Once an account is activated, only the account holder can modify their own login information. If the account is not activated, parents with edit permissions can update this information.

Change Contact Type

Parents can update another contact's Contact Type in the case they were added incorrectly. We recommend contacting the provider directly if the steps below cannot be taken.

On the Web

On the App

  1. Click to open the My Children page

  2. Scroll down to the 'Contacts' section

  3. Click Edit in the top right corner of the box

  4. Make note of the email address or mobile phone number the contact uses

  5. Click Remove to remove the contact with the incorrect contact type

  6. Click Remove again

  7. Click Done

  8. Click + Add a contact

  9. Choose the correct contact type

  10. Input only the email address or mobile number of the user
    💡The rest of the details will auto-populate!

  11. Click Save Contact

  1. Click to open the appropriate child's profile

  2. Click Profile in the top right corner

  3. Scroll down to the CONTACTS section

  4. Locate the specific contact to be removed and click to open the profile

  5. Make note of the email address or mobile phone number the contact uses

  6. Click Remove to remove the contact

  7. Click Remove again

  8. In the CONTACTS section, click the + sign

  9. Choose the correct contact type

  10. Input only the email address or mobile number of the user
    💡The rest of the details will auto-populate!

  11. Click Save

Troubleshooting

For the security and safety of the student’s personal information, adding and modifying contacts in a student’s profile must be done in a very specific way. It is common to receive an error message if the instructions outlined above are not followed.

Error Message

Why this happens

How to correct it

The phone number and email belong to different accounts in brightwheel.

This error indicates that there is a mismatch between the email address and mobile phone number entered.

This may mean that the contact has two accounts, one with their phone number and one with their email address.

Try adding the contact with ONLY their email address. The contacts should reach out to brightwheel Support to have the account associated with their phone number deactivated so that they can add it to their current account.

[Contact name] is already a contact for [Student name].

This error indicates that the contact being added is already added as a contact for that student.

If the intent is to change the contact type, simply edit the record and choose the desired contact type.

This email belongs to a teacher account. Please use a different email to create their parent account.

This means that the email address of the contact being added is already associated with a staff/teacher account.

The staff account needs to be deactivated before the email address can be used for a student contact. Start a conversation with our Support team and we can assist with deactivating that account.

Alternatively, this contact can be added as a student contact with just their mobile phone number. This will allow them to use brightwheel as both a student contact and a teacher.

FAQ

Why can’t I see any messages or billing?

This could mean the contact type is not set correctly or possibly that you need to added as a payer on the student's billing account.

Parents can send and see messages, Family can only send messages, and Approved Pickups/Emergency Contacts cannot see or send messages at all.

Family and Approved Pickups can added as payers on a student's account, but are not added by default, like a Parent would be. A program administrator will need to create your account with the correct contact type if it's set up incorrectly.

I have two accounts, one with my email and one with my phone number, can I merge them?

While it is not possible to merge these accounts, it is possible to disconnect and deactivate one account and then add the information to the desired one. To do so:

  1. Determine which account is the duplicate and what contact information is used

  2. Reach out to Support and advise you need to deactivate the account with the contact information you collected in Step 1 to add it to you primary account

  3. Complete the deactivation process with Support

  4. Once deactivated, that contact information is free to be added to your primary account

Related Articles
Add and Invite Student Contacts
Switching to a New brightwheel Program as a Student Contact
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View Student Profile as a Parent
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