How to Start an Afterschool Program: Your Essential Guide
Discover how to start an afterschool program that supports children's development and working families in your community.
#1 childcare software for before & after school programs
Save time managing your before & after school program with brightwheel
Save time managing your before & after school program with brightwheel
Manage attendance, billing, and parent communication for your extended-day program in one easy app.
Already use brightwheel? Join your school
Trusted by millions of educators and families
#1
Rated all-in-one
childcare solution
childcare solution
20hrs
Saved each month on
administrative tasks
administrative tasks
95%
Customer satisfaction
99.9%
Uptime and 24x7 monitoring
(we don’t crash)
(we don’t crash)
Why before & after school programs love brightwheel
Easy schedule management
Separately track attendance and activities for your morning and after school children.
Real-time parent communication
Give families quick updates and reminders about drop-off and pick-up times.
Flexible billing
Create tuition plans for different schedules and days, and simplify how you collect payments.
Effortless staff coordination
Manage your part-time and shift-based staff schedules to ensure proper coverage and room ratios.
Easy schedule management
Separately track attendance and activities for your morning and after school children.
Real-time parent communication
Give families quick updates and reminders about drop-off and pick-up times.
Flexible billing
Create tuition plans for different schedules and days, and simplify how you collect payments.
Effortless staff coordination
Manage your part-time and shift-based staff schedules to ensure proper coverage and room ratios.
Before & after school program owners and directors: Brightwheel is for you
Automated billing
- Set up billing plans based on your schedule
- Collect payments online and track who has paid with less hassle
- Eliminate late payments with automated billing services and payment reminders
“95% of families are on track with their payments, thanks to brightwheel! Before, it was really bad. Parents love that they can see exactly how much they owe, right on their phones.”
Munisha M, Director at Excelsior University for Children
Seabrook, TX
Quick parent updates
- Share messages, announcements, and reminders with families directly from the app
- Communicate schedule changes or events right away with alerts or SMS text messages
“Parent communication has drastically improved thanks to brightwheel. Parents are more in tune with what’s going on at school, so they’re more responsive. Because brightwheel is easy and quick to use for everybody.”
Cally B, Assistant Director at MBCC Journey
Birmingham, AL
Enhanced staff experience
- Streamline staff scheduling and share important details with your team
- Message staff about schedule changes in real-time, ensuring everyone stays informed and organized
“Revising the schedule takes less than 5 minutes and everyone is aware of what is going on, which makes for a seamless operation.”
Kelly R. Director of Good Shepherd Learning Center
Douglassville, PA
Secure document storage
- Collect forms and signatures online and store child and staff records safely
- Access what you need whenever you need it
- Brightwheel was incredibly well-received because it brought the parents into the classroom in a healthy way. It also doesn’t require the teacher to spend a tremendous amount of time getting the information into the system.
“Forms on brightwheel save me weeks of time each year. I no longer need to constantly check in with families to see if they’ve filled out the form. I can just send a message now and it’s instant.”
Pam M. Owner and Executive Director of Creative Learning Preschool
Aurora, CO
Early education resources
Organize your consent and release forms
Download these free templates to obtain the required approvals and permissions from families. Templates include:
- Child medical consent form
- Medication administration form
- Photography and video consent
- Parent consent form for field trip
- Permission to apply sunscreen form
- Diaper cream authorization form
Brightwheel has more ways to support your childcare program
Billing & payments
Send automated invoices, accept online payments, and get paid on time. 90% of preschools report that more families pay on time with brightwheel.
Center management
Simplify administrative tasks with brightwheel’s all-in-one app & save up to 20 hours per month. Stay compliant with digital check-ins, health checks, and room ratio tracking.
Communication
Build quality connections with families and staff. 95% of administrators & staff report brightwheel improves communication with families.
Seamlessly switch to brightwheel from other childcare management software
Easy onboarding trainings
Get access to guided training through brightwheel Academy, a comprehensive learning tool to help you, your staff, and families master using brightwheel.
Speedy support team
Brightwheel has the industry’s largest support team and will ensure that you get quick answers through live chat whenever you need them (response times are less than 1 minute!). Brightwheel’s support team plays a pivotal role in enabling new users to maximize every feature of the software.
Roster and rate card upload tool
Switching to brightwheel is easy when you upload your student rosters. The brightwheel team will import your roster and tuition rates into your brightwheel account so you have all of the information you need from day one.
One simple, transparent price
You won’t pay more as you use more features on brightwheel. Your price is based on enrollment capacity and you get access to all features on the platform.
Brightwheel vs. Procare
Switch to brightwheel, the leading mobile-first childcare app, for superior billing, messaging, and attendance tracking—all seamlessly synced in real time across devices.
Frequently asked questions about software for before & after school programs
Software centralizes key administrative tasks—like attendance tracking, billing, staff scheduling, and family communication—into one user-friendly platform, helping providers save time, streamline processes, and reduce errors.
Brightwheel enables easy check‑in and check‑out with digital methods, tracks attendance separately for morning and afternoon sessions, and helps manage staff schedules to ensure proper coverage and adherence to room ratios.
Yes. You can create flexible billing plans tailored to different schedules and days, automate invoicing, and send reminders—streamlining tuition collection and improving on-time payment rates.
Brightwheel facilitates real-time communication through messages, announcements, and reminders—sent via in-app notifications or SMS—to keep families promptly informed about schedule changes, drop-off/pick-up times, and daily updates.
You can coordinate and adjust staff schedules quickly, assign shifts based on availability, and share updates in real-time—helping maintain smooth operations and compliance with staffing needs.
Absolutely, brightwheel is scalable. It supports single-site programs and multi-location operations, all manageable via a unified dashboard with role-based access and bulk communication tools.
Brightwheel offers flexible pricing plans to fit different budgets and program types and sizes. We encourage prospective customers to connect with our team directly for a personalized quote based on your specific needs. Request pricing information to explore how brightwheel can benefit your program.
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