#1 childcare staff scheduling software

Childcare staff scheduling, reimagined

Childcare staff scheduling, reimagined

Easily manage your staff schedules, maintain ratios, and communicate schedule changes quickly with brightwheel.

First, tell us about yourself.

Why brightwheel is the #1 childcare staff scheduling software

Easily create and adjust schedules for your preschool staff with our user-friendly preschool scheduling software

Easily create and adjust schedules for your preschool staff with our user-friendly preschool scheduling software

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Intuitive scheduling interface

Create, adjust, and manage staff schedules with just a few clicks. Monitor room ratios and staggered schedules in real time.

An icon image of classroom that represents the staff management features in brightwheel.

Employee availability tracking

Easily track staff availability and preferences, making it simple to assign shifts that accommodate everyone's needs.

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Seamless integration

Sync time tracking and payroll with brightwheel’s integration with Gusto. Manage staff schedules with the same software you use for billing and communication.

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Customizable reporting

Gain valuable insights into staffing patterns, attendance, and labor costs. Identify trends and optimize staffing levels to improve efficiency.

An icon image of clipboard with a star, which represents scheduling tool in brightwheel.

Intuitive scheduling interface

Create, adjust, and manage staff schedules with just a few clicks. Monitor room ratios and staggered schedules in real time.

An icon image of classroom that represents the staff management features in brightwheel.

Employee availability tracking

Easily track staff availability and preferences, making it simple to assign shifts that accommodate everyone's needs.

An icon image of light bulb that represents efficiency driving tools in brightwheel.

Seamless integration

Sync time tracking and payroll with brightwheel’s integration with Gusto. Manage staff schedules with the same software you use for billing and communication.

An icon image of bar graph that represents the reporting tool in brightwheel.

Customizable reporting

Gain valuable insights into staffing patterns, attendance, and labor costs. Identify trends and optimize staffing levels to improve efficiency.

Automated childcare staff scheduling with brightwheel

Early education resources

Build a collaborative childcare team

Download this free guide for tips to create a positive work culture to retain staff at your childcare program. Plus, you'll learn:

  • Professional development ideas to implement at your program
  • Tips to promote staff wellness, boost morale, and foster open communication
  • Effective onboarding strategies to help new hires feel confident and supported

Benefits of digital staff scheduling vs traditional methods

 

Many childcare centers still rely on manual scheduling tools like spreadsheets, whiteboards, or paper charts. While these methods may seem simple, they often lead to:

Time-consuming updates:
Shifting even one staff member’s schedule can mean reworking the entire plan manually.

Higher risk of errors:
Double-bookings, ratio violations, or overlooked shifts are common when schedules are edited by hand.

Limited access:
Staff often can’t see their latest schedule unless they’re physically at the center.

 

With brightwheel’s digital preschool scheduling software, you can:

Save time:
Generate and adjust schedules in a few clicks.

Ensure accuracy:
Automatically calculate staff-child ratios and flag any gaps.

Improve staff satisfaction:
Give your team mobile access to real-time schedules and updates.

Control costs:
Track hours worked and prevent unnecessary overtime.

 

It’s time to move beyond spreadsheets and adopt a smarter way to schedule your childcare staff.

Brightwheel has more ways to support your childcare program

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Enrollment & admissions

Create forms, request documents and e-signatures, and make enrollment and waitlist decisions with ease.

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Classroom management

Track student attendance and progress, and generate reports to gain insights into classroom trends.

Icon image that represents payroll and time-tracking tools in brightwheel.

Payroll & time tracking

Track staff timecards and automatically sync time tracking with payroll for easy, accurate payroll processing.

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 for smarter staff scheduling that saves time with automated shift planning, precise overtime and double-overtime calculations, and real-time ratio tracking—all included without hidden fees.

Frequently asked questions about childcare staff scheduling software

Childcare staff scheduling software is a digital tool designed to help childcare centers efficiently manage their staff’s work schedules, including shifts, breaks, and time-off requests. It streamlines the process of creating, updating, and communicating schedules to ensure adequate staffing and compliance with regulations.

There are many benefits to using childcare staff scheduling software. This type of software automates the scheduling process, reducing the time and effort required to create and manage your staff schedules. It allows for easy adjustments and real-time visibility, ensuring that the right staff members are in place at the right times. It also prevents understaffing or overstaffing, leading to smoother operations.

Yes, brightwheel can handle various scheduling scenarios, including part-time and full-time staff arrangements. It can also facilitate the management of substitute teachers by allowing administrators to quickly create staff accounts for these employees and update their room assignments when needed.

Yes, brightwheel can track paid and unpaid time off for all staff. Time off automatically shows up on schedules for both admins and staff, eliminating the need for manual tracking. Staff can see their total time off hours (paid and unpaid) directly from the mobile app and you can easily view upcoming and past time off events, including summaries of time off hours by type and staff member.

Brightwheel’s payroll offerings are a complete, easy-to-use payroll solution, enabling providers to automate tax filings, save time, and manage payroll with confidence with Gusto, the #1 payroll provider for small businesses.

In brightwheel, you can track staff timecards and hours, and send that data directly to Gusto to pay your employees. This seamless integration can streamline the payroll process by using accurate attendance data from brightwheel, reducing manual data entry and potential errors.

Administrators can send group messages based on staff room assignments in brightwheel. The real-time messaging feature keeps everyone informed of schedule changes. In addition, staff can view their personal schedule or a specific room schedule by navigating to the Schedules tab on the brightwheel app or on the web.

Brightwheel allows you to set custom maximums for each room’s capacity and desired student-to-staff ratio. You can also check ratios per room, at any time, with real-time data to ensure proper staff-to-student ratios. You’ll even be alerted if a room goes out of ratio.

Yes! Brightwheel is designed to support childcare businesses with one or many locations. You can easily manage staff schedules across multiple sites from a single dashboard, giving you full visibility into staffing levels, ratios, and availability at each center. Whether you’re moving staff between locations or tracking hours separately for each site, brightwheel makes multi-location scheduling simple and efficient.

The ROI of investing in preschool scheduling software


Every minute spent manually creating staff schedules or fixing last-minute changes is time—and money—that could be invested back into your program. Childcare staff scheduling software isn’t just a modern convenience; it’s a smart investment with real returns.

Brightwheel helps childcare centers and schools see ROI quickly by:

  • Reducing administrative work: Automate staff schedules and cut hours of manual updates, freeing your team to focus on quality care instead of spreadsheets.
  • Avoiding overtime costs: Track hours in real time and prevent unexpected overtime and double-overtime expenses that eat into your budget.
  • Improving compliance and reducing fines: Maintain accurate staff-child ratios and keep digital records ready for licensing visits, helping avoid costly compliance penalties.
  • Boosting staff satisfaction and retention: Give staff clarity and flexibility in their schedules, leading to happier teams and lower turnover costs.
  • Saving time across locations: Manage multiple sites from one platform, streamlining operations and improving efficiency.

Many programs recoup their investment in brightwheel within just a few months, thanks to reduced labor costs, fewer compliance issues, and smoother operations. It’s not just software—it’s a strategy to help your business thrive.

Review more insights & resources about childcare staff scheduling software

Best Sample Daycare Schedule for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers

A daily daycare schedule can give your children the perfect balance of structure and flexibility. Understand the basics of building a schedule that meets the needs of your children.

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Employee Time Tracking Software: Top Tools & Features for Businesses in 2025

Explore what employee time tracking software is, its key benefits, must-have features, and the top tools to help childcare businesses boost efficiency in 2025.

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Childcare Ratios for Your Preschool

Childcare ratios are important to maintaining safety in an early education environment. Here’s how these staff-to-child ratios impact your program.

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Tour the easiest all-in-one childcare and preschool app

First, tell us about yourself.

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What brings you here today?

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Are you open and operating?

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What is your program’s maximum enrollment capacity?

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How many locations does your program have?

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