Adding student contacts is crucial for setting up brightwheel. A student's contact list determines which guardians will have access to their profile, what level of access, and how they can interact with their student and the program. Adding, inviting, and managing student contacts can often bring up many questions - we've covered the most common ones below!
💡 If you haven't already done so, review our Add and Invite Student Contacts resource first!
Why do parents use brightwheel?
Typically, schools & teachers choose to invite parents of students to brightwheel for any of the following reasons:
Daily reporting - Securely sharing recorded activities of their children via the app
Digital check-in via private/secure 4-digit pins
Paperless billing and payments
Numerous schools have unsolicitedly shared that using brightwheel with their parents has helped them with marketing and enrolling new students since it offers parents a window into their child’s lives during the day and digitizes otherwise manual and paper-intensive processes.
Why does it say the contact information already exists when I attempt to add, or update the email/phone number for a student contact?
It could be the student contact has an existing account they are not aware of, preventing you from making changes. If the guardian account is already activated, please note only the student contact is authorized to make changes to their contact information.
The program, or student contact can reach out to brightwheel Support for help in consolidating any duplicate accounts.
Why am I getting an error "The phone number and email belong to different accounts in brightwheel"?
This error indicates that there is a mismatch between the email address and mobile phone number entered. This may mean that the contact has two accounts, one with their phone number and one with their email address.
If you can't add a contact and you are attempting to add both an email and phone number, try adding the contact with ONLY their email address, or ONLY their phone number to see if this helps. Next advise the student contact to contact brightwheel Support for assistance with deactivating the account tied to either their phone number, or email so they can add it to their active account. |  |
Why am I getting an error "[Contact name] is already a contact for [Student name]"?
This indicates that the contact being added is already added as a contact for that student. If the intent is to change the contact type, simply edit the student contact's profile and choose the desired contact type. |  |
Why am I getting an error "This email belongs to a teacher account. Please use a different email to create their parent account"?
This means that the email address of the contact being added is already associated with a staff/teacher account.
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Can I invite all contacts at once?
Yes! You can use the Invite all button on the Parents, Family, and Approved Pickups tab to send out all invitations at once.
Can I limit parent's ability to edit student profiles?
Yes! Learn how to update parent permissions here if providers wish to limit adding additional information about their child, or inviting additional guardians.
How are parents notified of the activities/action their student has for the day?
We summarize each day with a Daily Report! Parents can choose to subscribe to these reports to be emailed daily. Programs can also provide the daily report for a past or current date if requested.
Why can't I edit a contact's email, or phone number?
As a provider, you are unable to edit a student contact's email or phone number once their account has been created. Once a parent, family, or approved pickup signs up for brightwheel, the email/phone number listed becomes their brightwheel username and only the student contact can change their username.
Please direct student contacts to update the email, or phone number themselves following our steps here to Update Student Contact Login Credentials. If the contact runs into any issues updating, please have them contact brightwheel Support.