
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 program on the app only
Cannot receive messages from the program
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.