Families don't experience a school in departmental moments—they experience it as one continuous relationship. Yet most schools organize their work, communications, and goals by team. That gap is where confusion, friction, and missed opportunities quietly accumulate. In this session, House of Hats Marketing and Shady Side Academy will share what happened when Marketing & Communications, Enrollment Management, and Alumni & Development came together to examine and reimagine the family experience—from early awareness through inquiry, enrollment, re-enrollment, giving, and alumni connection. Presenters will walk through the practical frameworks used to facilitate these conversations: lifecycle mapping, enrollment funnel analysis, and structured cross-functional meeting structures. Attendees will identify tools to set expectations are shaped earlier than teams realize, where families are left to connect the dots, and where small shifts can strengthen conversion and reduce friction. Presenters will also share what the conversations produced: specific commitments, owners, and next steps that became ongoing institutional work—and what it took to sustain that momentum. This case study examines what it looks like to get three teams looking at the same picture, what that reveals, and what to do next. Session participants will be able to: -Critically reflect on how their school organizes work internally and how families actually experience it -Identify lifecycle stages where cross-functional alignment could reduce friction and strengthen confidence -Reframe enrollment funnel data as a window into family experience, not just a measure of output -Plan concrete next steps to facilitate a cross-departmental conversation at their own school