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When Bernard Leff, who served as president of Moshe Aaron Yeshiva High School (MAYHS) for 12 years, first became involved with the school, his children were already too old to attend the burgeoning day school. So he was particularly heartened to learn that his grandson recently decided to enroll at MAYHS next year, Leff told the crowd at the school's annual dinner March 14 at Congregation Ahavas Achim in Highland Park.

"It's been phenomenal development," Leff told The Jewish State of the progress of the 16-year-old school. "It seems like we're in it for the long haul."

MAYHS, which has both boys' and girls' divisions, draws students from across the region. The annual dinner helps raise funds to support scholarships for students seeking to attend the 9th-12th grade South River school, but whose families cannot otherwise afford the costs of tuition.

Leff, along with the three other past presidents -- Ronda Israel, Dr. Richard Kleinmann, and Dr. Jesse Mintz -- were the evening's "guests of honor."

"It's local, reasonably small, parents feel they have some direct involvement, more input than perhaps at a larger school that is farther away," Mintz told The Jewish State. "And the faculty really is involved and caring about the kids."

Introducing the past presidents, Rabbi Dovid Komet, menahel (head of school) of MAYHS, said that it was not until he joined the school's administration after many years as a teacher that he realized the amount of effort that went into founding and operating a school, which he called "unbelievable."

"The work is never complete and the pressure never goes away," he said of the time and resources that the past presidents, a volunteer position, gave to the school over the years in order to ensure its success.

"We have elected to honor four people who since our inception have taken the mantle of leadership and have gotten us here to this point," he said.

Leff told the attendees that he was "proud of MAYHS and all of its accomplishments."

"Our graduates have become outstanding young people who have made contributions to society," he said, adding that one can witness the enthusiasm of the students just by walking through the halls of the school on any given day.

Michele and David Falk, whose son Jonathon is a 10th grader at MAYHS, were honored as the "parents of the year."

"It's humbling and at the same time empowering," Michele told The Jewish State.

While only Jonathon is currently enrolled at the school, their two other children, Daniel and Adina, in 7th and 5th grades, respectively, at Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva in Edison, already plan on attending their older brother's future alma mater; In the ad journal, they signed their names as class of 2015 and class of 2017.

The Falks both pointed to the school's "warmth" as its greatest attribute.

"We are very pleased with the level of education as well of course, but if I were to choose one word, it would be the warmth," Michele said of what aspect of MAYHS most attracted her family to the school. "Intimacy is a good word."

The annual dinner awarded this year's "alumnus of the year" award to Seth Mandel, managing editor of The Jewish State, who graduated from MAHYS in 2000.

Rabbi Aryeh Adler, a rebbe at the school, introduced Mandel, noting that since Mandel's senior year coincided with his first, it was not until after he graduated that they got to know one another. Today, Mandel attends Adler's weekly shiur.

"Not only does he understand the importance of learning Torah, he comes with a fire," Adler said of Mandel.

Mandel, who commuted from his home in Lakewood to South River in order to attend MAYHS, spoke about why he and his classmates from Ocean County had chosen to subject themselves to 16-hour days -- leaving home in the early hours of the morning and sometimes not returning until 10:30 at night if they had a basketball game or practice.

"Why did we choose the long days at MAYHS?" Mandel asked rhetorically. "Well, because a lifetime is brief. And in that regard MAYHS wasn't just the right choice, it was the only choice."

The dinner also paid tribute to the Abraham and Bessie Hann Foundation, a local nonprofit that provides financial support to the school.

Rabbi Abraham Mykoff of Congregation Poile Zedek and a board member of the foundation accepted the honor on the organization's behalf.

"[Abraham Hann] was an individual who unfortunately never got married, never had his own children, but in spirit he adopted all the children from our community and throughout the world," Mykoff said.

MAYHS, Mykoff added, has served to impart the values of "klal yisrael and Torah Judaism" to the students who pass through its halls.