When adding contacts for students, you are given 4 options: Parent, Family, Approved Pickup, and Emergency Contact. Each one has slightly different functions and privileges:
PLEASE NOTE:
Emergency contacts do NOT have pickup privileges. In case of an emergency, they will be contacted, however only parents, family, and approved pickups may check a child out.
Contacts and Access
Note that each Contact Type has a different level of access to a student's profile and brightwheel features.
Parents:
- Can see all updates in the Daily Feed
- Can access all Billing and Payment information
- Can add or remove other adults from the child's profile
- Can edit child's profile information
- Can message the school, and receive messages in an inbox/sent box that is shared between only Schools and Parents
Family
- Can see all updates in the Daily Feed
- Cannot access all Billing and Payment information
- Cannot add or remove other adults from the child's profile
- Cannot edit child's profile information
- Can message the school, but cannot receive messages from the school
Approved Pickups
- Can update their personal contact information and check-in code
- Cannot see all updates in the Daily Feed
- Cannot access all Billing and Payment information
- Cannot add or remove other adults from the child's profile
- Cannot edit child's profile information
- Cannot send or receive messages
Emergency Contacts
- Has no access to the child's profile within brightwheel. This is simply a reference for contact information.
- Is the only Contact Type that does not get an invitation to join brightwheel upon being added
FAQ's
Parent: "My child's school messaged me but I am unable to access messaging. Why?"
Common scenario! The school has likely entered them as a family/approved pick up contact instead of Parent. The school needs to delete them, then add again as parent.
Teacher: "I sent a parent an invoice and they said they do not see it."
Again, very common. Please make sure that they've been added as a parent and not family/approved pick up.
"Why am I unable to view the child's feed? I was added as an Emergency Contact recently."
Emergency contacts do have not have visibility into students' feeds or profiles.