In Search of Excellence: The Jewish Day School Version

By Dr. Harry Bloom, Founder and President, Benchmarking for Good, Inc.

Every Jewish day school promises excellence. Glossy brochures tout rigorous academics, warm communities, and transformative Jewish education. But when we ask parents the ultimate question—Would you recommend this school to other families?—the answers vary dramatically.

Some schools earn evangelical loyalty. Parents don't just recommend them; they recruit for them. Other schools, despite similar missions and resources, generate lukewarm responses or outright defection.

What explains the difference?

We analyzed parent survey responses from 14 Jewish day schools across the country, representing 1,600 families. Using Net Promoter Score methodology—the same framework Fortune 500 companies use to measure customer loyalty—we divided schools into high performers (NPS of 59-77) and lower performers (NPS of 16-58). Then we examined every dimension of the parent experience to identify what separates the best from the rest.

The findings challenge conventional assumptions about what makes a Jewish day school great.

The Counterintuitive Truth

Here's what we expected to find: that academic excellence would be the primary driver of parent recommendations. After all, isn't that why families sacrifice so much—financially and logistically—to send their children to day school?

Here's what the data actually showed:

The top differentiator wasn't academics. It was support for students with learning differences.

Schools in the high NPS group scored dramatically higher on their ability to accommodate diverse learners (4.21 vs. 3.75 on a 5-point scale). This wasn't a marginal difference. With a Cohen's d effect size of 0.41, it represents one of the largest gaps we measured across 59 dimensions of school performance.

The second-largest differentiator? Whether the school provides a "positive and nurturing environment for students"—tied at the same 0.41 effect size.

Academic excellence in general studies ranked 15th.

Let that sink in. The schools that parents recommend most enthusiastically aren't necessarily the ones with the most rigorous curricula or the highest test scores. They're the schools that make every child feel capable of success, and that wrap that success in genuine warmth.

The Four Pillars of Excellence

Across all the data, a clear pattern emerged. High NPS schools consistently outperformed on four distinct dimensions:

1. They Meet Students Where They Are

The cluster of attributes showing the largest differences between high and low NPS schools using a 5 point scale all relate to individualized attention:

Attribute	High NPS	Low NPS	Gap
Support for learning differences	4.21	3.75	+0.46
Special learning needs services	4.02	3.66	+0.36
Adaptive educational methods	4.13	3.78	+0.35
Teacher attention to individual needs	4.37	4.09	+0.28

This isn't about having a learning support program on paper. Every school has one. It's about whether that program actually works—whether parents of struggling students feel their children are being served, not merely tolerated.

2. They Create Cultures of Care

The second pillar is environmental. High NPS schools score markedly higher on:

•         Positive and nurturing environment (4.63 vs. 4.27)

•         Teaching good values and building character (4.63 vs. 4.38)

•         Positive relationships between administration and students (4.50 vs. 4.22)

•         Welcoming environment for entire family (4.48 vs. 4.27)

Notice what's happening here: parents aren't just evaluating whether their child feels welcomed. They're also evaluating whether they feel welcomed. The family experience matters.

3. They Communicate Like Partners

High NPS schools demonstrate a fundamentally different communication posture:

•         Treats student feedback with respect (4.40 vs. 4.08)

•         Proactive communication about child's situation (4.29 vs. 3.95)

•         Responsive to parent communications (4.50 vs. 4.28)

The gap on "treats student feedback with respect" is particularly telling. This isn't about newsletters or apps or parent portals—it's about whether families feel heard.

4. They Invest in What Families Experience

Finally, high NPS schools score higher on tangible aspects of the experience:

•         High-quality facilities (4.52 vs. 4.24)

•         Curriculum reflecting innovative educational offerings (4.22 vs. 3.94)

•         Effective mental health guidance (4.29 vs. 4.01)

What Didn't Differentiate

Equally important is what didn't separate high from low NPS schools:

Jewish studies performance was nearly identical across groups. Satisfaction with Tanach, Talmud, Hebrew language, and Jewish philosophy showed minimal differences. Both high and low NPS schools appear to deliver similarly on the core Jewish educational mission.

STEAM/STEM programs slightly favored lower NPS schools—one of the only attributes where lower performers scored higher (though not significantly). This may reflect an overinvestment in trendy programming at the expense of fundamentals.

The implication is clear: Jewish day school excellence isn't about flashy programs or even about academic metrics. It's about the human experience—how students and families are treated, supported, and valued.

The Retention Connection

Does any of this actually matter? Or is NPS just a vanity metric?

We found a direct link to retention behavior. At high NPS schools, 21.4% of families reported seriously considering alternative schools in the past year. At low NPS schools, that figure rose to 26.9%—a statistically significant difference (p = 0.018).

That 5.5 percentage point gap may seem modest, but for a school with 500 families, it represents 27 additional families on the brink of departure each year. At $20,000+ per student, that's over half a million dollars in tuition at risk—not to mention the corrosive effect on community when families leave.

High NPS isn't just about feeling good. It's about sustainability.

Implications for School Leaders

What should Jewish day school leaders take from this analysis?

First, audit your support services—honestly. Not what's on your website, but what families actually experience. Survey parents of students receiving support. Are they satisfied? Do they feel their children are valued as much as "typical" learners?

Second, examine your culture of communication. When a parent raises a concern, what happens? How long until they hear back? Do they feel heard? Do students have meaningful channels to provide feedback?

Third, invest in the intangibles. Warmth. Welcome. Character education. These aren't soft concepts—they're the infrastructure of parent loyalty.

Fourth, resist the temptation to chase trends. STEAM labs and innovation centers may photograph well, but they don't appear to drive satisfaction. The fundamentals—individual attention, nurturing environment, responsive communication—are less glamorous but more essential.

The Excellence Equation

In their landmark 1982 book In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters and Robert Waterman studied America's best-run companies and found that excellence wasn't about sophisticated strategies or complex systems. It was about basics done brilliantly: staying close to customers, respecting employees, and maintaining focus on what really matters.

Four decades later, the same lesson applies to Jewish day schools.

The schools that earn the strongest parent recommendations aren't necessarily the ones with the most impressive test scores or the most famous graduates. They're the schools that have figured out something more fundamental: how to make every child feel seen, every family feel welcomed, and every concern feel heard.

Excellence in Jewish day schools isn't a mystery. It's a choice—a daily commitment to putting relationships and responsiveness ahead of programs and prestige.

The data tells us exactly what matters. The question is whether we're willing to listen.

Benchmarking For Good Can Help Your School Achieve Excellence

Contact harrybloom@benchmarkingforgood.org to explore how your school can utilize Benchmarking for Good’s research services to support its drive for excellence.