Brightwheel is childcare, daycare, and preschool management software for your ECE program. Explicitly designed for directors and administrators at mid to high-capacity centers, Brightwheel provides essential features, such as seamless attendance tracking, intuitive digital daily sheets and reports, paperless billing, robust parent communication support, and free training and technical support.

Website: https://mybrightwheel.com/

What Users Love About the App

“Check In/Out, Parent communication, Student data, billing, billing reports—I don’t think I could possibly choose just one thing I like! The only thing we aren’t currently using would be the lesson plans/observations. We plan to begin using those this summer!”

“I like that Brightwheel can message parents so quickly and that it has a database of parent information for all the students. It’s easy to see the roster and the students that are checked in. I like being able to call parents from the app, and the variation of messages to be sent (emergency, incident, etc).”

“Brightwheel keeps everything in one place for all of our students. Customer support is always so easy to get a hold of and quick with an answer. They’re always improving the software and listening to customer feedback.”

“I like that everything is made easy. If you run into any trouble, there are step-by-step videos on how to navigate your way through. If you’re not able to do that, there are always excellent customer service reps that will walk you through correcting any issue. They keep customers updated on the latest feathers and changes!”

“Brightwheel is very easy to use, it is convenient for schools. I think it is great that parents are able to check in on their kid’s activities of the day, sign in and out, and message teachers straight through the application. It is also very convenient that staff are able to check-in and out through the Brightwheel application and are able to communicate with parents.”

What Users Dislike About the App

“I wish there was a better way of communicating to the administrator about check-ins/outs of students as well as a way for staff to communicate with each other. I wish that there was a way to mark daily attendance ahead of time (i.e. someone on Monday says their child will be absent on Friday). I think the process to share lesson plans and snack menus is a little clunky. I think the price is high for not using most of the features, but the plus version is required for the number of kids in my program.”

“I dislike that you are not able to view transactions, invoices, or payments right from the student’s profile. In the company I worked with before, they used a different system where all that was visible in the student’s profile. There should be an option to be able to view that information.”

“When pulling multiple reports, I frequently have to close the program between reports or the second report pulls all data (rather than just for the dates requested). I would like more options when pulling reports, like being able to pull billing based on category/item type.”

“This app has a terrible user experience. I have to use it for two daycares, and moving from one account to the other is not a straightforward process. It is also not accurate as I have received information about my child’s daily activities when my child has not even been at school. At the minimum, Brightwheel should sync the attendance with the automated push-up notifications. Otherwise, it just adds to the loss of credibility of the school. The payment reminders are also confusing and inaccurate because it is not set up to avoid duplication. It is better than nothing, but today we have abundant technology available for apps to be better so it is a shame that this is what we have to use to coordinate with the school.”

“The app and desktop features don’t seem to match. It’s harder to do some things on the desktop than it is on the app. It would be nice if they worked the same.”

“Having billing be primarily invoice-based rather than account-based is a drawback. For example: If a family overpays, there is no way to allow a credit to sit in their account.”