FeaturesPlansFAQSupportGet Started Free →
Getting Started

Getting Started on CubbyPro: Starter Plan Onboarding for Daycare Owners

April 10, 2026 · 9 min read · CubbyPro Team
← Back to Blog

Welcome to CubbyPro

You've signed up. Now what? This guide walks you through everything a new daycare director should set up in their first week on the Starter plan, in the order that makes the rest of your day easier. Total time across all sections is about an hour, spread over a few sessions — you do not need to do it all at once.

The Starter plan is designed for small home daycares and family centres caring for up to 10 children. It includes everything you need to replace your paper sign-in sheets, parent contact binder, and announcement board:

What's not in Starter (you'll see these features prompt for an upgrade in the sidebar): billing, invoices, tax receipts, expenses, staff management, schedules, timesheets, certifications, CWELCC reporting, learning progress, and daily plans. If you need any of those, see the upgrade callout near the end of this article.

Day 1, Step 1 — Configure your centre profile (5 minutes)

Everything in this step lives in Sidebar → Settings → Centre. The Settings page is organised into tabs — Director Profile, Centre, PIN & Device, Security & Audit, Subscription, and Billing History.

  1. Click Settings in the left sidebar, then open the Centre tab.
  2. Click the centre logo placeholder and upload your logo (JPG or PNG — CubbyPro auto-compresses it to about 50 KB).
  3. Set your Centre Timezone so timestamps are correct.
  4. Scroll to Operating Hours. Set when your centre opens, when it closes, and which days you're open.
  5. Click 💾 Save Operating Hours.

Why first? Operating hours and timezone affect how check-ins are recorded and how the dashboard displays your day. Get this right before staff and parents start using the system tomorrow morning.

While you're here, hop to the Director Profile tab to upload your own photo and set your Kiosk PIN (4–6 digits, used to clock in on shared devices).

Day 1, Step 2 — Create your classrooms (5 minutes)

Even if you only have one room, every student needs to be assigned to a classroom for ratios, room counts, and grouping to work. Note: your dashboard will keep showing the welcome screen until you've both created at least one classroom and enrolled at least one student — that's the next step.

  1. Go to Sidebar → Classrooms.
  2. Click + Add Class at the top right.
  3. Fill in the Name (e.g. "Toddler Room", "Preschool A", "Infants"), age range, and capacity.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Repeat for every room you operate.

Tip: name rooms the way your staff and parents already refer to them. Don't overthink it — you can edit any classroom later.

Day 1, Step 3 — Enrol your first students (about 2 minutes per student)

  1. Go to Sidebar → Students.
  2. Click + Enroll Student.
  3. Fill in the Student Information section: first, middle, and last name, date of birth, and pick a classroom.
  4. Add at least one Guardian (parent or primary contact) with their name, email, and phone number. These are the people who will receive messages, photos, and announcements.
  5. Add Authorized Pickups — anyone other than the listed guardians who can check the student out (grandparents, nannies, etc.).
  6. Optional but useful for compliance: fill in Allergies, Dietary Notes, Medical Notes, and Health Card Number.
  7. Click Enroll Student.

You can repeat this for every student, or do a few per session over the week. The Starter plan supports up to 10 students — you'll see a counter as you add them. Once your first student is enrolled the dashboard switches from the welcome screen to live attendance, activity, and alert data.

Day 1, Step 4 — Try your first check-in (2 minutes)

Confirm everything works before parents arrive tomorrow morning.

  1. Go to Sidebar → Student Check-In.
  2. Find a student and click ✅ Check In. The student should now show as Present with the timestamp.
  3. Click Out to test check-out and pick a pickup person.
  4. Click Absent to test marking a student away with a reason.

If anything looks off, this is the moment to fix it.

Day 2, Step 5 — Send the parent invitations

When you enrolled each student you entered the guardians' email addresses. Parents receive an automatic invitation email with a link to set up their account and download the mobile app (or use the web app). If you prefer to review entries before families get notified, turn auto-invites off at Sidebar → Settings → Centre → Parent Invitations.

  1. Go to Sidebar → Students and click any student to see the guardian list.
  2. If you need to resend, click Resend invite next to the guardian.

Once parents accept the invitation, they'll see their student's photos, activities, attendance, and messages from you in real time.

Day 2, Step 6 — Send your first announcement (3 minutes)

Make a great first impression: send a short welcome to all your families.

  1. Go to Sidebar → Announcements.
  2. Click + New Announcement.
  3. Write a title (e.g. "Welcome to CubbyPro!") and a short message.
  4. Choose your audience (typically All Parents).
  5. Click Send. Every recipient gets an email and an in-app notification.

Day 2, Step 7 — Add upcoming dates to the Calendar

Parents love knowing what's coming. A populated calendar is one of the simplest ways to look professional from day one.

  1. Go to Sidebar → Calendar.
  2. Click any date to add an event.
  3. Add closures, picture days, themed days, parent meetings, anything seasonal.
  4. Set visibility (staff only or all families).

Day 3, Step 8 — Log your first activities (5 minutes)

This is the daily rhythm of CubbyPro and what parents will see most often.

  1. Go to Sidebar → Student Check-In and make sure a student is checked in.
  2. Click 📝 Log next to the student.
  3. Pick a type: Meal, Nap, Diaper, Activity, Mood, Milestone, Health, or Photo.
  4. Fill in the details and submit.

You can also log activities for all students at once by selecting "All Students" — perfect for group meals or naps.

Day 3, Step 9 — Upload your first photos

Even on a quiet day, one or two photos per child go a long way.

Week 1, Step 10 — Track immunizations

Ontario CCEYA requires immunization records for every enrolled student. CubbyPro tracks the Ontario schedule and flags overdue vaccines automatically.

  1. Go to Sidebar → Students, click any student, and open the Immunizations tab.
  2. Add the student's vaccine records, dose by dose.
  3. Use Add Exemption if a parent has filed a valid medical or conscience exemption.

If you're managing immunization reviews across the whole centre, open Sidebar → Immunizations instead — it gives you a dashboard of every student with pending, approved, or rejected documents and lets you approve or reject in one place.

Week 1, Step 11 — Log your first fire drill

CCEYA requires fire drills monthly. CubbyPro keeps your audit trail in one place.

  1. Go to Sidebar → Compliance.
  2. Find Fire Drills and click Log Fire Drill.
  3. Enter the date, time, duration, and any notes.
  4. Save — this becomes part of your inspection record.

Your Week-1 checklist

If you've ticked all of those, your centre is fully operational on CubbyPro.

When to upgrade to Professional

Stay on Starter as long as it covers your needs. Move up to Professional when any of these become true:

You can upgrade at any time. Your data, students, parents, and history stay exactly where they are.

Where to get help

Welcome aboard.

Need more than 10 students, billing, or staff?

Upgrade to Professional any time — your data stays exactly where it is.

See Plans & Pricing →