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Integrated Attendance with KinderConnect
Integrated Attendance with KinderConnect

[For Admins] Track student check-ins and easily send attendance data to your state subsidy agency via KinderConnect in select states.

Audrey avatar
Written by Audrey
Updated over 2 months ago

Using check-in data already entered through brightwheel, the KinderConnect integration allows you to quickly and easily share attendance data with your KinderConnect account, removing the need to manually enter student attendance times and reducing the likelihood of data entry errors.

Only programs located in New York, Missouri, Louisiana, Arizona, and Texas are integrated with KinderConnect at this time. If you'd like to see KinderConnect integrated for your state, please have your state agency or a local organization contact us at katy.close@mybrightwheel.com. We are unable to build an integration without approval from your state agency.

❗If your program is located in the state of Iowa, you’ll utilize KinderTrack, not KinderConnect. Please visit our Integrated Integrated Attendance with KinderTrack for Iowa Programs resource to learn more.

Initial Setup

To begin, coordinate with the KinderConnect support team in order to obtain your integration credentials. You’ll need to request:

  • Your KinderConnect Provider ID

  • Your brightwheel Integration Password.

ℹ️ The KinderConnect integration password is different from your brightwheel account password. This password must be received by the KinderConnect Support Team.

Depending on your state, the KinderConnect team can be reached at the following email addresses:

Step 1: Setup KinderConnect Integration in brightwheel

  1. Once you’ve obtained your KinderConnect ID, log into your brightwheel account on the web
    💡Texas providers may have multiple ID’s if students live across different counties. Make sure you check with KinderConnect for the ID in each county.

  2. Click the My School option on the purple sidebar to expand the menu

  3. Select Settings

  4. Select the School Info tab at the top

  5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate the Integrations section

  6. Select your state from the State Agency dropdown. Select from:

    1. AZ - Kinder Connect

    2. LA - Kinder Connect

    3. MO - Kinder Connect

    4. NY - Kinder Connect

    5. TX - Kinder Connect

  7. Enter the ProviderID and Provider Password given to you by KinderConnect

    1. Texas providers will click Add a Provider ID now and Save. Optionally select Add another Provider ID to add any additional provider IDs.

  8. Wait until you receive the green ✓Saved note

Step 2: Gather KinderConnect Student IDs

Now that the school setup is complete, the next step of the process is to add your KinderConnect student IDs to your brightwheel student profiles.

  1. Log in to your KinderConnect Account

  2. Go to the Child tab and select “Child Search”

  3. On your Student Report in KinderConnect, locate the ID column

  4. Pull that ID to be entered into brightwheel

Step 3: Enter KinderConnect IDs into your brightwheel account

  1. Log back into your brightwheel account on the web

  2. Click the My School option on the purple sidebar to expand the menu

  3. Click the Students tab

  4. Find a student profile from the list that corresponds to a student in your KinderConnect account

  5. Click into the student profile

  6. Scroll down to the Integrations section and choose the edit option to add their KinderConnect ID

  7. Repeat steps 1-6 for each student that needs integration with KinderConnect

Submit Attendance Data to KinderConnect

After entering the school credentials and adding your student IDs, you are now ready to run the new attendance report within brightwheel. This will allow you to send your time and attendance data to your KinderConnect account.

  1. Log in to your brightwheel account on the web

  2. Click the Reporting option to expand the menu and select Reports

  3. Under Attendance, select KinderConnect

  4. Use the Start and End date fields to select the attendance range that needs to be submitted(date ranges cannot be set for the current day or the future)
    💡If you are a provider in Texas and have multiple Provider IDs, select the drop-down menu under Provider ID and click the ID you wish to send data for.

  5. Use the Student status and Students filter to further narrow down results

  6. If there are any attendance errors in the date range selected and filters applied, a red banner will appear at the top of this report. Hit Review in the banner to be taken to the attendance editing page and make adjustments as needed.
    ℹ️ Students without a KinderConnect ID added to their profile will not appear. Navigate to the student profile to add an ID.

  7. When ready, click Submit to KinderConnect
    ​💡This process may take a bit of time to establish the connection and send the data. Once it has been sent, the brightwheel report will update with a Sent message

💡 Use the Student filter on this report to submit attendance data for a specific student!

For example, if Students A, B, and C are ready for their attendance to be submitted now but Student D is not until tomorrow - you can submit data for A, B, and C now and then filter for Student D tomorrow to submit separately.

Important Notes:

  • If the wrong Provider ID or password is entered, an error will appear stating "Inactive KinderConnect Provider ID/password." To resolve this, please re-enter the Provider ID/password, or confirm with KinderConnect the correct credentials.

  • A status of Approved reflects that the student ID has been entered correctly in brightwheel and they have attendance records that match the approved dates both in brightwheel and KinderConnect. However, this status does not indicate that the attendance records submitted for students are accurate. Always verify attendance data using the Check-in and Daily Attendance Summary reports in brightwheel (check every record, ensure there's corresponding check-out records, no overlapping times across rooms, etc.)

  • If you notice students with a KinderConnect ID still appear as Unapproved, review our Troubleshooting Approvals section below!

Review Attendance Data in KinderConnect

  1. Log into your KinderConnect account

  2. Go to the Attendance Tab on the top and select Attendance Detail from the drop-down

    1. If you are a provider in Texas and have multiple Provider IDs, select the drop-down menu under Provider ID and click the Provider ID you wish to review data for.

  3. Your data will have automatically been added to the attendance report in KinderConnect for the selected date range. You should see the “In” and “Out” time filled in for each child with green check marks
    ​💡Refresh your page if you do not see the data immediately.

🚩The integration only populates your attendance data in KinderConnect. Any additional updates, processing, or KinderConnect functionality must be handled outside of brightwheel.

If you notice any discrepancies that need to be corrected within the data sent to KinderConnect, please contact the KinderConnect support team. If you’ve already sent data to KinderConnect, submissions can be edited in KinderConnect and any new, or edited data in brightwheel can be re-submitted to overwrite existing data in KinderConnect

Troubleshooting Approvals

If students are showing as unapproved, or undefined in the KinderConnect report within brightwheel, there are a few reasons this can happen.

  1. A student will appear with a undefined status of "-" if the provider ID, or password under the integration settings are entered incorrectly. Be sure to enter these correctly or contact KinderConnect to confirm the correct credentials.

  2. The student is missing their KinderConnect ID in brightwheel, or the incorrect KinderConnect ID was entered on the student profile in brightwheel. Be sure the KinderConnect ID entered on a student profile in brightwheel matches the same exact ID number listed for the student in your KinderConnect account.

  3. The student is not approved in KinderConnect for the specific subsidy date range you've entered into the KinderConnect report in brightwheel. Students must fall within the approved date range on KinderConnect and this must match the date range in brightwheel. Here's how to find the date range entered for each child in KinderConnect:

    1. Log into KinderConnect

    2. Go to the Child > Search tab

    3. Search a child's name

    4. Click on the child’s profile

    5. Look to see the approved date range for that child under the Schedules section
      💡Please contact the KinderConnect Support Team if you need assistance adding the approve date range for a student

FAQ

Why do I get a "Date range is invalid" message in the KinderConnect report?

This means you entered a future date for the Start, or End date. Dates cannot be set in for the future, or the current day

Why are students missing from the report?

The KinderConnect report will only show students with a KinderConnect ID listed on their profile. Be sure to input the correct KinderConnect ID on their brightwheel profile.

Why do I get a "Inactive KinderConnect provider ID/password" message on the report if the integration box shows as "Active"?

The Active indicator on the integration box does not mean the login credentials are correct! This is just verifying that information has been entered in the fields. The "Inactive KinderConnect provider ID/password" means your ID and password are incorrect. Please re-enter these, or contact KinderConnect for the correct credentials

How will I know if I have multiple Provider IDs?

Only programs in Texas can have multiple IDs. If you are in Texas, please reach out to KinderConnect directly as they are responsible for providing IDs.

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