Tadpoles is a child care center management platform that connects educators, families, and daily center operations. Centers can send family updates with photos, videos, and routine details, while secure two-way messaging links families, teachers, and administrators. Operational tools cover enrollment, attendance, transitions, child and teacher locations, classroom ratios, and custom billing and payment plans. Health screening features support sharing health information between families and teachers. Tadpoles integrates with GOLD so teachers can gather formative assessment data in the app used for classroom management and family communication. The service runs on Android, iOS, and the web, with parent apps listed for iPhone, iPad, and Android. Teaching Strategies says personal data is encrypted with TLS in transit and AES at rest, held in monitored continental U.S. data centers, and used for authorized educational purposes rather than advertising or sale. Pricing is by request; there is no free plan, but a free-trial signup is offered.
Who it is for
It suits child care centers, early childhood educators, and families needing shared communication and operational tools. Centers needing enrollment, attendance, billing, health, and assessment functions can use the same platform.
What is good
- Daily reports support photos and routine updates
- Secure two-way family messaging
- Enrollment, attendance, and billing tools
- Health screening supports information sharing
- Android, iOS, and web availability
What to know first
- Pricing is available only on request
- No free plan
- Personal data is hosted in continental U.S. data centers
Verdict
Tadpoles combines family communication with child care administration, health screening, billing, and assessment integration. Its mobile and web availability suits connected center operations, while pricing requires contacting the maker.
Tadpoles plans and pricing
All plansCompared on early childhood education software
- Free plan
- No
- Enrollment management
- Yes
- Family communication
- Yes
- Attendance and check-in
- Yes
- Billing and payments
- Yes
- Lesson planning
- Yes
- Mobile apps
- both
