Children and families

Review record retention settings

As an owner or organization administrator, open School setup, then Record retention.
Choose a record type and review its current period. Open View changes for saved history.
Check your school’s requirements before shortening a period. Enter whole days, review the change, then save.
Reload after an uncertain save or conflicting change before trying again.

How settings work: Settings apply across the organization. New records save the policy and duration used for their retention. Changing a setting does not delete records now or shorten already saved evidence. Licensing periods, recorded pauses and related records may keep information longer.
History and review: History shows observed changes only; older settings may be unavailable. The application starting period is not legal approval. Child files also use enrollment and licensing history; How long the file is kept, under Children who left, on a child explains its schedule.

Parent access requests

Parents can create a login and scan the school desk code to request access, writing the first name of each of their children. They must verify email. Approving sends one email with a link to join Ashby; once they open it they see every child you picked. An account or scan alone never reveals child records; invitation acceptance and consent still apply. This is not a new enrollment inquiry.

Open Children → Access requests.
Confirm you know the parent. Which children? starts on each child in your care with a first name the parent wrote (a full name, or a name written without accents, works too); pick each child this parent should see (or the matching-email family on your enrollment list).
Approve, or Decline (it asks first). With several requests waiting, each card keeps the children you picked while you answer the others, even if the page reloads. If someone else already answered the request, Ashby says so and the list updates.

Review school records

At a Texas child-care center or a licensed or registered Texas home, open a child’s More menu, then School records. Review each item, including the immunization record or exemption, identify where the school keeps the original, and add a reason. Use the document’s expiry date or your school’s next review date when one applies.

Every review stays in history. Listed or unconfirmed home permits and other unsupported jurisdictions show when their checklist is not available. A home permit change requires fresh reviews; earlier history remains visible. On file records the school’s review; it does not upload the original or certify licensing compliance. Missing, unreviewed, expired and due records remain on Home until addressed. A move to another school needs another review there. Family file exports include the history, which is removed with the child’s file.

What this is

Children is the roster of children in your care. A new family can start on Enrollment — parent name only, not the child’s. You can add a child here without a parent login. Connecting parents is highly recommended so they can do their part on Ashby.

Do this

After you sign in, open More, then Enrollment for a family still waiting.
For a child already in your care, open Children. Choose Room at the top to see one roster at a time. Choose Unassigned for children without a room. Switching rooms clears checked rows before bulk actions. Add a child is at the top, beside the title. Add another parent adds a second parent at the same time.
Add that child — name and date of birth. Parent email is optional. Or upload a CSV or XLSX spreadsheet with up to 500 rows. Match columns and review before Import. Tuition and opening balances are optional; no emails or payments are sent. Existing children and previously imported balances are not duplicated. Put each child’s balance on only one row. Name rooms first in School setup. Age group and how many children sit on each room header on Children — not in School setup.
Add a parent email on the child if you want them on Ashby. We email the invite when you add the child. They sign in with that same email and agree to enrollment. After a spreadsheet upload, check the children you want and tap Invite selected, or tap Invite all pending when you are ready for everyone. This is highly recommended, not required.
On a child row, tap More, then Add a parent. Existing parents show in a list — each name with whether they use Ashby (or Not on Ashby yet), phone and email underneath — including a parent you added when you saved the child. For a parent saved with a phone only, Copy join link or Text the link sends your school’s join link. Fill the form to add another. Close and Add a parent sit on one row. A parent with an email shows Invite sent, Joined Ashby, or Not on Ashby yet. Tap More on that row, then Send link again, to send another link. Always add email and phone. Send a link only if they should use Ashby. Add someone who can pick up or Add an emergency contact for people who should not get Ashby. The same person can be both — pick someone already on the child, or add someone new. Site leads can open Care notes.
Each row has a Status mark — green File ready, or what is still missing, such as No immunization status. Tap it to see what to add. Tap More, then Edit to change the child’s name, date of birth, weekly tuition, photo, or (in Texas) immunization status. Room stays on the roster. Check rows for Move to room, Invite selected, or Left the program.
Photo and extra-sharing choices are on that invite. Enrollment consent is always required.
After a room move, an age-matched tuition plan may be suggested. Choose Keep current plan or review the amount and choose Switch plan.
For a pickup or emergency person, choose how they know the child — Grandparent, Aunt or uncle, Neighbor, Friend, or Other (then say who they are). The lists show it after the name, and Attendance shows it at pickup.
Added a parent by mistake? Tap the child’s name, then Parents. On that parent’s row tap More, then Remove; Ashby asks first. If the same person is on a brother or sister, Also remove from them is ticked. A child’s only parent, a parent who pays for the child (also one saved with a phone only and chosen in Who pays tuition), and a parent who picked the child up before can’t be removed: add the right parent, change who pays tuition, or use Remove from pickup first. An assistant’s job shows each child’s emergency contacts only; the director sees the parents and everyone who can pick up. If she follows a link to a child’s parents, pickup list or licensing records, the child’s list of what she can open shows instead. When nobody is listed to pick up a child at check-out, she asks the director to add someone.
When you know a child’s last day ahead of time, tap More, then Leaving on a date. Choose the Last day and Graduating or Moving on, then Save last day. The child stays on the roster until that day and billing stops after it. Change last day or Stay on the roster change it before then.
If a child who left comes back, open their row under Children who left and choose Back on the roster. They start again today in the same group with the same tuition plan; check their tuition so bills start again.
To mark the same licensing records for several children, choose Mark on file under Licensing records on Children: tick the records and the children (nothing starts ticked), add where you keep them and the date, then Mark on file.

Open Ashby

How it works

The parent table lets staff view details, add another parent, edit a parent, resend a pending invitation and remove a parent added by mistake. Do not create a duplicate parent as a workaround.

A child belongs to your program. A room is where they are placed today. Moving rooms later keeps a history of where they were.

After a child leaves, Children who left shows Kept until and the earliest file removal date, or Kept for now when there is no date yet. Each school attended and later record expiries can extend the hold. Changing school setup does not replace saved retention history. Older or backdated files may need review. Choose How long the file is kept under Children who left to see the current hold, a related record’s later date, or what needs review. A file with no saved removal date is paused; opening the review does not resume removal. Keep opens a hold review. Choose a reason and Review by date, then Save hold. A due review never releases the file automatically. Review or release the hold from How long the file is kept; required clocks are still checked. Open Past changes to see recorded reasons, review dates and releases. Earlier changes loads older decisions; history may not include decisions made before recording began. Automatic cleanup keeps tagged classroom photos, event RSVPs and signed permission records while held. Recorded holds also pause message cleanup and permanent message removal across the school. Related conversations, family group posts and replies can extend a child file’s removal date. Tagged photos and their comments can also extend a child file’s removal date. Reminder cleanup has its own rules. Files with unresolved licensing rules or record expiries stay for review. Remove now works only after all required holds have ended.

Moving rooms keeps the selected tuition plan and any adjustment. A suggested plan changes tuition only after you confirm. Existing invoices keep their original amounts.

Child: first name, last name, date of birth. Educators only see children in their assigned rooms.
Room: named in School setup. One room can auto-place a new child. Two or more: pick one. On Children, each room shows who is in it, the age group, and how many children it is set for. A warning appears if the room is over that number. It does not block save.
Parent: a parent or guardian on the child. Mother and father are both parents. Always add email and phone. Invite sent means the link is out and they have not accepted yet. Joined Ashby means they accepted. Send link again sends another link. Staff and a parent who already uses Ashby can both add another parent. Removing a parent takes them off that child only: their waiting links for the child stop working, their login, payer record, consents and history stay, and Ashby keeps a note of who removed them and when. A parent or guardian with no child left at your program can no longer open it; you can add them again later. Owners, org admins, directors and assistant directors can remove any parent but themselves; a parent can remove only someone they added who has not joined yet.
Status: Green File ready when name, a parent on the child or a parent invite waiting, and an emergency contact are on the file. Texas locations also need immunization status; saving the immunization record On file in School records marks it Current. Otherwise the mark names what is missing. You can still run the roster. The doctor’s note stays on paper.
Pickup and emergency: names and a phone on the child. They do not get Ashby. The same person can be both — pick someone already on the child, or add someone new. A parent can be an emergency contact. Do not add a pickup person as a parent. How they know the child is optional and shows at pickup, like Lucia Rivera (Grandparent).
Leaving date: a planned last day. The child stays on the roster through that day, then moves to Children who left as if they left that day. Back on the roster starts a new stay; the earlier one stays in the child’s history.
Waitlist: a parent lead on Enrollment. No child name yet. When you admit them, invite if you want them on Ashby — they fill the child’s details and you approve. Or add the child here without a login.
Tuition → Tuition plans: same as the location weekly rate, a different weekly amount, or a percent off. It lives on the open enrollment so a room move keeps the history.
Photo: one picture on the child file. Staff can add or see it only when a parent has agreed to photos. It is not a gallery.
Immunization: Texas locations store current, exempt, or missing, plus an as-of date. Other states keep shots on paper.
Enrollment consent: records needed to provide care. Always required. Photos and extra sharing are separate.

Browse all childcare guides or explore Ashby’s features.