Skip to main content
All CollectionsUsing brightwheelLearning
Create and Manage Student Portfolios
Create and Manage Student Portfolios

[For all staff] Learn how to view, create, and manage student Portfolios that can be shared with families to track progress and development!

Sabrina avatar
Written by Sabrina
Updated over 10 months ago

Preparing for family-teacher conferences can be time-consuming and challenging, requiring detailed child development narratives and supporting evidence. Brightwheel's student Portfolios streamline this process, allowing easy creation of visually appealing summaries on student progress using Photos, Videos, Observations, and Notes.

ℹ️ ALL staff roles (Admins, Managers, Lead, and Staff) can view and create portfolios and templates.

  • Digitally access and include evidence of children's growth with ease in the Portfolio builder

  • Create different sections and add images, videos, observations and notes to those sections to really make the student story shine

  • Create portfolio templates to save time and to make it even easier to keep all the portfolios consistent across the center

  • Share portfolios with parents so they can view their child’s developmental story anytime from within Brightwheel

Learn more below!

Create a Portfolio Template

Creating templates can help speed up the process of building portfolios and ensure consistency across your program. All staff can easily access and use the templates created when starting a new portfolio.

  1. Log in on the web

  2. Click to open the Learning page on the purple sidebar menu

  3. Jump to the Portfolios tab

  4. Click the Create new drop-down and select Template

  5. Input a Template name

  6. Add a date range, if applicable

  7. Click + Add section to create new sections and input a section Title for each

  8. When finished, click Save

For ideas on how to best set up your template(s), check out the Portfolio Template Suggestions at the bottom of this article.

Create a New Portfolio

💡 Portfolios auto-save as a draft so you won’t lose progress if you close out the page!

  1. Log in on the web

  2. Click to open the Learning page on the purple sidebar menu

  3. Jump to the Portfolios tab

  4. Click the Create new drop-down and select Portfolio

  5. Select Start from scratch

  6. Click Next

  7. Use the Student, Status, and Room filters to narrow down the student list

  8. Once the student is located, click Create on their row

  9. Use the Portfolio builder to add in all applicable details:

    1. Click Add a date range if desired

    2. Click + Add Section to add as many sections as needed and add a Title and optional Description in each

    3. Add Photos, Videos, Observations, and Notes previously logged for the student from the right side-bar

      1. Hover over any logged activities to select the section they're added to and click Add

  10. Click Preview to see the guardian view and Return to builder when finished

  11. When ready, click Publish and then Yes, Publish

Create a Portfolio from a Template

💡 Portfolios auto-save as a draft so you won’t lose progress if you close out the page!

  1. Log in on the web

  2. Click to open the Learning page on the purple sidebar menu

  3. Jump to the Portfolios tab

  4. Click the Create new drop-down and select Portfolio

  5. Select Start from a template

  6. Use the drop-down menu to Choose a template

  7. Click Next

  8. Use the Student, Status, and Room filters to narrow down the student list

  9. Once the student is located, click Create on their row

  10. Fill out the optional Description and add Photos, Videos, Observations, and Notes previously logged for the student from the right side-bar

    1. Hover over any logged activities to select the section they're added to and click Add

  11. Click Preview to see the guardian view and Return to builder when finished

  12. When ready, click Publish and then Yes, Publish

Preview a Published Portfolio

All staff can easily view a preview of a published portfolio to see what the guardian sees.

  1. Log in on the web

  2. Click to open the Learning page on the purple sidebar menu

  3. Jump to the Portfolios tab

  4. Use the available filters & Order by drop-down to locate the portfolio needed (Student, Room, Date range)

  5. Click the Actions drop-down on the appropriate portfolio's row and select Preview

Manage a Draft Portfolio

ℹ️ Once a portfolio is published, it cannot be edited or deleted. The only option will be to preview the shared copy.

  1. Log in on the web

  2. Click to open the Learning page on the purple sidebar menu

  3. Jump to the Portfolios tab

  4. Use the Student, Room, and Date range filters to locate the applicable portfolio

  5. On the applicable portfolio's row, click the Actions drop-down

  6. Select Preview, Edit, or Delete

Print a Portfolio

All staff have the option to print a student's portfolio in case they want to have a physical copy for their records or during a parent-teacher conference.

  1. Log into brightwheel on the web

  2. Go to the Learning tab from the purple left sidebar

  3. Toggle at the top of the page to Portfolios

  4. Use the Student, Room, and Date range filters to locate the applicable portfolio

  5. On the applicable portfolio's row, click the Actions drop-down

  6. Select Print

ℹ️ Staff can also print the portfolio from the Preview page by clicking Print in the upper right corner.

Parent Access to Portfolios

Once a portfolio has been published, Parent contacts will receive an email advising this has been shared and can be viewed within their brightwheel account on the web or the app. Family contacts can view Portfolios as well, but will not receive an email.

Guardians can check out our View Student Portfolios resource to learn more!

Portfolio Template Suggestions

Below we’ve included template section suggestions as a springboard to ignite your creativity. You have the freedom to mix and match these ideas or infuse your own, making each portfolio a personalized testament to the growth journey of your students.

Suggestion #1:

✨ Glows

🪴Grows

Keep it simple - highlight the positives and areas of growth

Suggestion #2:

✅ Daily Routines Checklist

🪴 Areas to work on

Share how the student does with their daily routine at the program (academics, behavior, naps, etc.) and areas of growth

Suggestion #3:

✨ Strengths

🪴 We will work on

🏡 Encourage your child to

Share the student's strengths, areas you will be working on in the classroom with them, and suggestions for the parent to work on at home

Suggestion #4:

⭐️ I am great at...

🪴 I need some help with...

🏡 Things to practice at home

Share what the student is excelling at, what they need help with in the classroom, and suggestions for the parents on things to practice at home

Did this answer your question?