"I sincerely feel there is a real family atmosphere here," said Steve Silverstein.

Ella Finkelstein says her two sons, Ilya, who is now studying at Stanford University, and Henry, learned to respect each other, their parents and grandparents as well as appreciate their Jewish heritage. She also noted that Henry's successful entrance essay to Yale University highlighted his Jewish values and his appreciation for his grandfather.

Another advantage is academic excellence, fostered by the low-teacher-to-pupil ratio, where even middle-school classes are capped at 20 students to one teacher.

Lisa and Jay Gelbart say the individual attention nurtured their two sons' love for learning that now continues at the university level. Josh is currently a sophomore at University of Texas, Austin, studying government and business, while Zachary is a junior at Towson University in Baltimore, majoring in business.

"They enjoyed the personal touch," says Jay Gelbart. "And that everyone in the school knew their name."

Other parents say they are impressed by how the children are connected to the larger world.

Jeannette Sinasoshn cited the reaction of her daughter's classmates to the September 2004 terrorist massacre of Russian students in the town of Belsen.

"They learned about it, and boom, a few days later all the kids were making little packages to send to the Russian students," said Sinashoshn. "That's big to me."