The present study uses observational assessment of 66 two-parent families working and playing together when their eldest child is in kindergarten and again in 9(th) grade to identify distinct patterns of family functioning derived from structural family systems theory. Whereas concurrent assessment of the relationship between family type and adolescents' school behavior were not significant, significant prospective longitudinal relationships between family type assessed in early childhood and 9(th) grade school behavior were indicated. Kindergarteners whose families were primarily characterized by a strong mother-child alliance were less academically competent, more aggressive/inattentive, and more anxious/depressed/withdrawn at school nine years later when they were in 9(th) grade, than their peers in more cohesive or father-child allied families.