Brightwheel’s Forms empower providers by enabling them to collect key information from both existing and prospective families. Information collected is automatically added to the student’s profile and will create new contacts as needed. Providers can collect and store all form submissions in one place and easily see who’s submitted all necessary information and who hasn’t.

In addition to Forms, providers can also utilize other various document-sharing options with families like Document Requests, Fillable Documents, and Contracts.

Create a New Form

Log in to brightwheel on the web
Open the Paperwork page on the purple sidebar menu
On the Forms & Requests tab, click the Create new drop-down menu
Select Form
Enter the form’s name and description, click Continue
Click the + New Section button and choose what sections to add (Child, Parent, Enrollment, Address, Parent signature, or Custom)
Please Note: Any information collected using a Custom Section/Field will not be displayed directly in the student’s profile, but will always be accessible through that form submission.
Click Add fields within a section to add Custom Fields
Mark the desired fields Required and delete any unnecessary fields
Use the number drop-down options next to Sections and Fields to re-order as needed
Use the orange Preview button and click Exit preview when ready to save
Set the access level for the form: Link Access, Invite Only, or Draft
Please Note: To update this access level on a saved form, see our Editing Forms resource
Click Create when ready

Sections and Fields

Forms can include custom and preset questions. Preset questions are created by brightwheel and correspond to fields on the child's profile. Custom questions are created by the program administrator and do not correspond to fields on the child's profile.

🚩 Once submitted and the program selects Approve and Update, any data included in the preset questions will auto populate on the corresponding fields on the child's profile. Data included in custom sections will not auto populate on the student's profile.

Preset Sections and Fields

Each form is comprised of sections of fields that parents will be able to fill out. These fields directly correspond with the fields in the student’s profile. Once a section is added to a form, any field can be marked as required or deleted by clicking the trash icon.

💡 When a "Guardian Information" section is added there is no need to create multiple sections for each guardian as the Parents will be able to add more guardians by selecting the "+ Add parent/guardian" button that is only visible to the person filling out the form. The only expectation that is not included is emergency contacts.

Custom Sections and Fields

Custom Sections and Fields can be added to any form as outlined in the creation process above. At this time, any information collected in the custom section/field will not be displayed directly in the student’s profile, but will always be accessible through that form submission.

Click the + New Section button, or click the Add fields button within a section to add a Custom Section. Once added, you can modify the name of the section by clicking Edit or delete the section by clicking the trashcan icon. The field name and type (text, yes/no, numeric, date, or paragraph) can be modified by clicking the pencil icon.

ℹ️ All custom field names must be unique and cannot be repeated, or duplicated. For example, if you needed to have two name fields on a form, you would want to create Name 1 and Name 2 fields instead to avoid duplicates!

Guardian Signatures

A Parent Signature field can be added for guardians to type a digital signature on Forms, Fillable Documents, and Contract types, but not on Document Requests. Digital signatures can only be used once so if multiple are required programs may consider creating a Custom Field for additional signatures.

🚩 The name in the Parent Name and Parent Signature fields must match exactly including spaces and capitalization to submit the form.

Share Forms

Once you've created a form, you have different options available for how you'd like to share it.

If you want to share with parents whose students already have a profile at the program, you can send an invite to complete it right from the Forms & Requests tab.
If you want to share a direct link to the form via email, another communication method, or by adding the link to your website, this is possible by using Link Access and can be valuable if you want to gather prospective student information and add them to a Waitlist!
After sharing, all associated parents receive email notifications to review and submit the form and can access shared contracts and forms from the Forms & Requests tab in their student's profile on the brightwheel app or web platform.
Forms can be resent as needed (e.g., a new year's registration form). Simply follow the steps to share as normal. When resharing, this will send a new contract to the parent(s) for completion, creating an additional instance in the student's forms list.
🚩 If parents are having trouble accessing a contract or email invite, avoid resharing, as it adds another version of the form for them to complete. In such cases, share our Completing Forms resource with your parents so they understand how to complete the request.

Managing Forms

After a form is created, you will have a few options for managing these forms such as requesting changes on a parent's submission, approving a form submission, deleting a form, and much more.

Check out our Manage Digital Forms help center resource for more information on your options!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How can I collect a registration fee with a form I share with my parents?

Our Admissions feature operates separately from our billing platform at this time. There is not currently a way to collect a fee with an application. Any registration or application fees you may wish to collect must be added manually to the student's billing account as a one-time charge.

What if I need to edit a form I’ve already shared with my parents?

You can easily edit and reorder sections within a form. Editing a form will not affect or change any historical submissions. After making edits, only new families that are sent these will receive the updates. You cannot re-share the updated form version if it has already been shared with parents. If you have already shared an application with a family and need to make edits to any field/section, you can duplicate the form and share it this way.

What if I need parents to make changes to a form after it has already been submitted and approved?

Once a form is approved, you won’t be able to use our Request Changes feature. You can edit any auto-populated information directly from the child’s profile, or reshare the form that needs updating so parents receive a new copy and submit the updated information.

Why am I receiving an error that "The form must have at least one field" when trying to share a form I've created?

This is occurring because there are no editable fields added to the form! If this was sent to families, they wouldn't be able to fill out the form digitally. To correct this, edit the form you've created and select at least one editable field following the guidance above.

Learn more about Managing and Sharing Forms!