On a winter evening at the Peters' house, the Henry Group was making its pitch to William Aliprando.

His children are only 1 and 3 years old, but already Aliprando and his wife, Leslie Klinefelter, are school-shopping. They are professionals who are white - he a database manager for a pharmaceuticals firm, she a nurse practitioner - and open to all options. Including private school. Including the suburbs. Including Henry Elementary.

Ulrike Shapiro, a German-born musician, sang Henry's praises for five minutes. Her son "loves everything," she said. "His class spent two days in the library because the kindergarten classroom was flooded and he thought that was the greatest thing ever."

"I was at the school judging the science fair, and I had an epiphany," Nancy Peter said. "It was chaos, but my kid was part of it. I realized it wasn't chaos, it was exuberance."

"Our daughter comes home motivated," said Tom Landers, also the parent of a kindergartner. "Henry has not destroyed her," he added wryly, getting a knowing laugh from the others.

When Aliprando and Klinefelter moved to Mount Airy four years ago, in love with the big homes and the diversity, "we knew it would be a problem, the school thing," she said. "But we decided to deal with it when the time came."

They have given themselves until November, when private school applications are due for the 2005-06 school year, to make up their minds.

At Henry, "they don't have a music class, but a parent teaches music," Aliprando said. "There's not much playground, but people tell us you can make up for it by taking them places to play outside of school. You have to fill in the gaps yourself. That's OK, if you think they're getting a good experience."

Diversity is part of that "good experience," said Aliprando, who attended an all-white parochial school in Brooklyn. "It's nice, but it's more of a bonus."

"The top thing is the quality of education they would get," he said. "I don't know what else."

Contact staff writer Dale Mezzacappa at 215-854-5112 or dmezzacappa@phillynews.com.

Inquirer staff writer Anthony R. Wood contributed to this article.