Every lead's happy ending is the same thing: they stop being a lead and start being a student. In Playground, that means moving them from the CRM (where leads, tours, and follow-ups live) into the CCMS (where actual enrolled students, classrooms, and billing live). This chapter is about that handoff.
The CRM is the "are they going to join?" side of the house. The CCMS is the "they joined, now let's run the program" side. Enrollment is the door between them.
There are two doors, and you get to pick which one fits your school. One uses an enrollment listing (a real application the parent fills out). The other drops the lead directly into a classroom, no application needed. They look similar from the outside but they behave very differently once you walk through.
Pick your door: listing vs. direct
📝
Enrollment listing
Parent fills out a real application. Student is built from what they submit.
Watch out: CRM data doesn't carry over - the application IS the data.
🚪
Direct to classroom
You pick a classroom, the lead becomes a student. No application.
✓Fast - one click from the lead profile
✓No paperwork for the parent up front
✓Good for word-of-mouth or already-paid families
Watch out: Lead must be in a closed won stage, and CRM data is what gets created.
Most schools use enrollment listings because the application captures everything (forms, fees, agreements). Direct-to-classroom is a shortcut for programs that don't run a formal application, or for the rare case where a family has already paid and just needs a seat.
Door 1: Send an enrollment listing
You have an enrollment listing already built (if not, that's a different chapter). What you're doing here is getting the link in front of the right parent. There are three ways to do it, and they're really just "how much human effort do you want."
👤
From the lead's profile
Actions → Send Enrollment Link. Pick the student(s), pick the listing, click Send.
Manual
Best for: One family at a time, after a tour went well.
🤖
Through an automation
Paste the listing link into an automation email. Trigger on stage change or form submit.
Hands-off
Best for: Anyone hitting a certain stage, like 'Tour Completed'.
📱
QR code on a flyer
Each listing has a QR code. Print it, stick it on the tour clipboard, parent scans.
In-person
Best for: Families who apply while they're physically at the school.
The lead profile is the launch pad. Try it below: open Actions in the top right, pick Send enrollment link, choose the students and the listing, send. Then use Change stage to move them to Application Sent. The activity log updates as you go.
Leads / Katie Brown
Katie Brown
New
👉Click Actions
All activityCallsEmailsSMSNotes
Last week
+
This lead was created by Maria AlvarezYesterday at 11:45 AM EDT
Students
Olivia Rossi
New
Grace King
New
Two doors, one destination. The stage badge above updates when both students share the same stage.
Heads up: CRM data does not move with the lead. When the parent submits the application, the student profile that gets created in the CCMS is built from whatever they typed on the application. The notes, properties, and stage history you collected in the CRM stay in the CRM. The application is the source of truth for who this student is in the CCMS. The one exception is if you have set up a property that is designed to map to the CCMS. In that case, that single property does carry over.
Sending the link through an automation
If you're sending the same listing to everyone who hits a certain stage (or fills out a certain form), don't do it by hand. Grab the listing's link from the CCMS, drop it into an automation email, and let the trigger do the work.
Recipe · 5 steps · interactive
Playground · CCMS
CCMS Admin›Enrollment
Listing
Status
Happy Hands Full Time
Live
👉 Click
Summer at Happy Hands
Live
Re-Enrollment 2027
Draft
Step 1: CCMS Admin → Enrollment tab → ⋯ next to your listing → Copy Link.
Door 2: Move the lead straight into a classroom
No application, no listing. You pick a classroom, click a button, and the lead becomes a student. Faster, but it skips the paperwork, which means whatever's in the CRM is what ends up in the CCMS. The one exception is if you have set up a property that is designed to map to the CCMS. In that case, that single property carries over. Everything else stays in the CRM.
One rule before this works: the lead has to be in a stage that is marked as closed won. That is not a stage name. It is a property you turn on per stage in Settings → Stages. By default, Enrolled is usually the one marked closed won, but you can mark any stage you want. If Move to CCMS is greyed out, the lead is probably sitting in a stage that is not marked closed won.
Three quick steps: mark the stage closed won, pick a classroom, then click Move to CCMS.
Lead · Jamie R.
👈Change to Enrolled
Open
You set which stages are closed won in Settings → Stages.
This stage is not marked closed won. The button stays greyed out until you switch to a closed won stage.
CCMS result
Nothing yet. Follow the highlighted steps on the left. Pick a stage marked closed won, choose a classroom, then click Move to CCMS.
Have the parent double-check everything. The student and guardian profiles in the CCMS get created from whatever you typed into the CRM, including name spellings, birthday, allergies, emergency contacts, all of it. Some of that came from a tour form the parent filled months ago and they may have updated their address since. When they create their Playground account, ask them to walk through the profile and confirm.
The mental model, one more time
Both doors end in the same place: a student profile in the CCMS and a guardian who has (or is about to create) a Playground account. The difference is what fills that profile.
Door
CCMS profile is built from
The one thing that trips people up
📝 Listing
The application the parent submits
Parent must use the same email as their CRM lead.
🚪 Direct
Whatever's in the CRM lead today
Lead must be in a closed won stage. Have the parent verify the profile.
That's the entire chapter, and that's the entire guide. If you understand which door you're walking through and what data is going to land on the other side, you've already beat the most common enrollment confusion: a parent asking "wait, why did you spell my kid's name wrong?" when nobody actually did anything wrong.