Submitting student information via brightwheel's Upload Tool on the web is the fastest way to add students, their personal details and additional contacts. Upload any file like a photo of attendance records, scanned forms, spreadsheets, etc. and our team handles the rest by adding the information for you!
Premium customers receive unlimited uploads and these are completed within 24 hours, but typically the same day.
Getting Started: What You Should Know
Start by gathering your file with student and parent information. Refer to our Accepted File Types for examples of files you can upload. If your roster is less than 10 students, we recommend adding students manually.
The minimum requirement for the file upload is to include the Student First and Last name. To ensure actions can be logged immediately, we also recommend adding the student's Homeroom and at least one Parent's contact information. For a list of what information we accept, see our Advanced Roster Fields section.
Once your file is ready, you can take the upload the roster information.
💡If you need to bulk update information on existing student profiles in brightwheel, you can also use the Upload Tool. Learn more in our Bulk Update Students resource.
Accepted File Types
We will accept student & parent information in any form, as long as it is legible and clearly labeled. This is particularly helpful if you are coming to brightwheel from pen and paper, or using multiple systems to keep track of your data.
While the preferred formats for files are CSV or XLSX, as they are universally recognized and help prevent conversion errors, we accept all file formats. Examples of files our current customers have shared with us:
Personal excel files with student information and parent contacts
Scanned PDFs of enrollment forms
Screenshots of student and parent lists from subsidy reporting
Photos of attendance check-in sheets
And more!
ℹ️ Don’t have a file to upload? Our premade Roster Template can help you organize your essential student data. Alternatively, if you're transitioning from another platform to brightwheel, you can take steps to export your data from a third-party system.
Steps to Upload Student Information
Once your file meets the guidelines above and includes at a minimum the Student First and Last Name, it’s ready to be uploaded! Make sure to log in to the school account for which this upload is intended and follow the steps below.
Log in to the school's account on the web
Click to expand the My School tab and select Students
Click on Add Students in the top right corner
Select the Bulk upload option
Click Choose files to select the file with roster information
Once the correct file has been added, click Send files
After uploading, the screen will refresh with a confirmation message
ℹ️ Once imported, our team does not send invites to student contacts. You can send invites by following steps here.
Export your Roster from a Third-Party System
Coming to brightwheel from another platform? We are here to help make the transition as seamless as possible! Review our Roster Exports from Other Systems resource to see if your current provider is listed and follow the steps to export. You can then return to this resource to import your data easily.
💡If your current platform has the option to filter based on student status, we recommend only exporting active students. This will prevent confusion and ensure only the students actively enrolled in your program are imported to brightwheel
Use a Roster Template
If you don’t have student files that are well aggregated, we highly recommend using our pre-defined templates. You can manually enter your student data in the template and this will ensure you get the right information into our systems.
We have two different types of templates:
Simple Roster Template | Advanced Roster Template |
This template covers the basic information needed to get your student accounts populated. Many schools use it for initial setup and ask parents to add more details (i.e. birthday, allergies, emergency contacts, additional guardians) to their child's profile.
You can use any of the following simple templates to upload your roster:
Once you open the file, there will be further details and instructions in the top section of the template. | This template covers the basic information and a whole lot more! This template is a great option if you already have a lot of student profile information upfront and want to populate it more quickly. These fields can also be updated in bulk at a later time!
You can use any of the following advanced templates to upload your roster:
View more details about the fields contained in this template in the Advanced Roster Template Fields section below. |
View Advanced Roster Fields ↓
View Advanced Roster Fields ↓
Providers can use the Upload Tool to add information to the following fields on a student profile. Please note that Custom Fields cannot be added from the Upload Tool.
*Fields marked with an asterisk are required.
Student Identification
This field is not viewable on the student profile but is used when exporting and importing roster uploads to update student information and prevent duplicating profiles. If a student is already in brightwheel, do not change or remove this column.
brightwheel_id - Brightwheel assigns a unique ID to every student once they are created at a school. If creating new students, leave this field blank, and use the Roster Export to use these IDs to edit students in bulk. More on bulk editing here.
Personal Information
These fields pertain explicitly to the individual student. Please pay close attention to the descriptions, as our import tool requires specific formatting.
*first_name - Student's first name.
*last_name - Student's last name.
birthdate - Student's date of birth, formatted as M/D/YYYY.
gender - At this time, our system is limited to "male", "female", or "other".
race - This field allows for any combination of the following entries - if selecting more than use, separate with a semicolon: American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, White, Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Other Asian, Middle Eastern or North African, Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamarro, Other Pacific Islander, Some Other Race
ethnicity - Please enter either Hispanic, Latino or Spanish Origin OR Not of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish Origin
allergies - Enter all student allergies here. If there is a valid entry, allergy badges will appear on student profiles.
notes - Notes are a great way to document special needs or any other useful information about this student or family. This is a free-form field.
medications - This is a free-form field; enter any medications necessary here.
doctor_name - Doctor's full name.
doctor_phone - Doctor's phone number.
Rooms
Each student should be assigned to one homeroom, and they can also be assigned to additional rooms that they may be moved into and out of throughout the day.
*homeroom - This is the student's primary room assignment; there can only be one homeroom assignment per student.
room_1 - Adding additional room assignments to students allows the students to be checked in/out and moved between rooms throughout the day. Simply add a new column to the sheet and use the room_1 header; this will allow as many rooms as needed by changing the 1 to a 2, or 3, 4, 5, etc in different columns
School Details
The school details information will only be visible to staff members. This is where specific information can be input for reporting and tracking.
enrollment_status - Enter the student's status as Lead, Toured, Applied, Waitlist, Prospect, Active, Inactive, Graduated, or Removed. We cannot accept custom entries for this field at this time.
meal_type - Assigning a meal type is a big help for CACFP reporting. Choose one of the following entries: not_specified, free, reduced, paid, or leave the field blank.
student_id - Use this field to enter a student ID that the school has used in the past or wants to use in the future. This is a free-form field, so enter whatever is desired or leave it blank.
Address
Enter the address where the student resides.
street_1 - Student's street address.
street_2 - Any other address information such as PO Box, suite, or apartment number.
city - City name
state - Please use the two-letter abbreviation for the state.
country - Please use the two-letter abbreviation for the country (ie: US).
zip - Student's zip code.
Enrollment Details
All the following fields relate to the student's enrollment and family's contact with the school.
first_contact_date - When the family first contacted the school (M/D/YYYY).
toured_date - When the family toured the school (M/D/YYYY).
paperwork_date - When all required paperwork was completed (M/D/YYYY).
desired_start_date - The date the family would like the student to start attending (M/D/YYYY).
enrollment_date - The date the student actually started attending (M/D/YYYY).
graduation_date - The date the student left the school (M/D/YYYY).
expected_birth_date - For expecting parents, enter the anticipated birthdate (M/D/YYYY).
sibling_attending - If the student has or will have a sibling attending, enter TRUE. Otherwise, enter FALSE
enrollment_additional_details - Enter any additional information needed regarding this student's enrollment.
Financial Details
This set of fields allows the ability to input family income and subsidy information for each student.
family_income - Choose one of the following options and enter as seen here: Below 25,000 per year, 25,000 to 50,000 per year, 50,000 to 75,000 per year, 75,000 to 100,000 per year, 100,000 to 125,000 per year, 125,000 and above
subsidy - If the student receives a subsidy, enter TRUE otherwise, enter FALSE
subsidy_details - Enter any additional information needed regarding this student's subsidy.
Adding Student Contacts
Student contacts are not required when uploading a roster, but this makes a huge difference in student and staff involvement!
When adding this information, please enter the minimum of first and last name per contact and an email address or a valid, ten-digit US/Canadian mobile number. The other two phone number fields are free form, so any additional numbers can be listed there. Contacts are able to update or add to their personal contact information at any time.
💡 As many contacts as desired can be added to the roster template. To add more than one Parent, Family, Approved Pickup, or Emergency student contact, simply add extra excel columns for each new contact and change the 1 after the contact title to a 2, or 3, 4, 5, etc (E.g. To add a third parent contact, add new columns titled Parent 3: First Name, Parent 3: Last Name, Parent 3: Email, & Parent 3: Mobile).
parent_1_first_name
parent_1_last_name
parent_1_email
parent_1_mobile_phone
parent_1_phone_1
parent_1_phone_2
family_1_last_name
family_1_email
family_1_mobile_phone
family_1_phone_1
family_1_phone_2
approved_pickup_1_first_name
approved_pickup_1_last_name
approved_pickup_1_email
approved_pickup_1_mobile_phone
approved_pickup_1_phone_1
approved_pickup_1_phone_2
emergency_contact_1_first_name
emergency_contact_1_last_name
emergency_contact_1_phone
emergency_contact_1_relationship
FAQs
FAQs
Why am I experiencing issues/errors uploading my file with roster information?
This can sometimes happen if you are using an outdated browser. We recommend using Google Chrome to access your brightwheel account on the web and reattempt the upload.