Hyde School (Maine)

Hyde was founded in 1966 by Joe Gauld, who had previously worked for 13 years in public and private schools.[8][4] Concerned by "sentimentalist attitude[s]" about child-raising,[3] Gauld was inspired to start his own school emphasizing character and discipline.[4] After being fired from a two-year stint of Berwick Academy's headmaster in 1965 for trying to introduce his model of character-building, Gauld opened Hyde on the campus of a former school for physically-disabled children.[9] It was the first school to be founded on character development.

Initial expansion plans began in the 1970s, with the school considering sites in the Midwest.[4] In the 1990s, the school was looking for a campus in the West due to a quarter of the student body being from California.[10] In 1996, a second campus, known as Hyde-Woodstock, was opened in Woodstock, Connecticut on the campus of the former Annhurst College.[10] Satellites were also established in Washington, D.C. and New York City were established under the umbrella of "The Hyde Organization."[11]

By 2016, both the Bath and Woodstock campuses were facing declining enrollment.[5] It was announced in January 2017 that the 127-acre Woodstock campus would be closed and sold to nearby Woodstock Academy for $14.25 million (USD).[12] The consolidation of the two campuses moved Woodstock students and many faculty to Bath, allowed for an expansion of the curriculum and student financial aid, and led to plans to renovate some of the facilities.[13][5]

The mission of Hyde is to build character and "reach students that nobody has been able to reach before" due to behavioral problems.[4][3] Due to this, the school focuses on character education, leadership development, and developing student potential.[3][11] Applicants' academic transcripts are not evaluated as part of the admission process; instead, students and their families take a two-hour interview.[4][10]

As part of the character-building curriculum, all students are required to participate in academics, performing arts, athletics, and community service.[4][10] Hyde students evaluate themselves against the school's five principles of Courage, Integrity, Leadership, Curiosity, and Concern.[14] Regular visits from parents are required; they also participate in regional groups away from campus.[10][14] Honors and Advanced Placement courses are offered, though graduation is based on personal development more than academics, with individual degrees being determined by community assessment.[15][4][6]

Discipline is used throughout the curriculum, with the intention of helping students develop personal values. Strict behavioral rules are enacted and enforced by administrators and the community.[4][3] Students can stop classes and call "concern meetings" to challenge peers they feel are underprepared.[16] Examples of past disciplinary procedures include corporal punishment, a student being ordered to box a teacher, labor on the school grounds and nearby farms, living in isolation, digging a pit as a metaphorical grave, and receiving a masculine haircut.[17][16][3][7] Some families that have participated in Hyde programs have described the school's methods as being "cult-like," "brainwashing," and "indoctrination," while others have defended them as educational and caring ways to help students mature into adult responsibility.[16][9]

In 2010, the Woodstock campus experimented with banning the use of technology on Tuesdays, in attempt to increase face-to-face communication.[11]

Hyde runs a leadership program in July for students ages 13–18. The program takes place on the Bath, Maine campus and on Hyde's Black Wilderness Preserve in Eustis, Maine.[18]

Hyde School has been accused of multiple ethics violations over the years, including aiding and abetting teachers accused of sexual assault. One of the most notable incidents involves former trainer, Larry Dubinsky. A quote from a previous Hyde parent describes what seems to have been frequent activity by Mr. Dubinski. "When LD enjoyed himself rubbing his body all over my daughter she complained to Ken Grant who then called her into a meeting with LD, (without my knowledge) along with other adult staff. She was made to confront him in front of all. MY GOD, this was a sexual assault and they want a young teenage girl to be in the same room as the perpetrator to "confront" him?? Sorry, but this goes beyond sick!! Every single one of those staff who participated in this and knew it was wrong needs to look at themselves and ask why they were such cowards."

Larry was fired after multiple public accusations. Even after this, Larry was allowed to freely access the campus. In response, a lawsuit was filed in the Connecticut District Court in 2003, Case No. 3:02-cv-00416-DJS. Hyde attempted to have this lawsuit dismissed, but was unsuccessful. During jury selection, Hyde offered a large cash settlement in order to have the lawsuit dropped. Larry's wife remains employed by Hyde School to this day.

Alix Titchelman, murderer of Google Executive Forrest Hayes, was a student at Hyde. 'Alix spent her early teens in an Atlanta suburb where she played sports and won writing awards. "Her friends say that she's very smart, very deep," said Daly [Alix's roommate at Hyde]. But also very troubled. "Her experiences with boys were not always happy ones," Daly explained. "She had eating disorders ... she was taking drugs." Desperate, her parents went looking for help and located a school that they thought would give her special attention. "So they found this place called the Hyde School in Maine," Daly continued. Megan was also a student at the Hyde School, where Tichelman spent a few months. "I can feel, like, pressure in my chest. It's nerve-wracking," she said driving to the school. Megan asked "48 Hours" not to use her last name, but agreed to travel back to the Hyde School campus. "I want people to see this very pivotal part of her life, that I feel, probably affected her at a very ... huge point in her development ... and why she is who she is," she said. "Do you remember when you first met Alix, do you happen to remember the very first time you saw her?" Maher asked. "One-hundred percent," Megan said. "She was gorgeous and she was very awkward." The cute blonde girl next door was long gone. "She barely ate. She was very skinny. She was rail-thin," Megan said. "She was emotionally kind of closed off." Tichelman had started cutting herself. A photo of Alix in her then-bunkmate's scrapbook reads "psycho roomie" and "look at the cuts on her arm." "Alix Tichelman was actually the first person that I met who did that," said Ashley Kent, who lived in Tichelman's dorm. And at Hyde, it seemed like Tichelman was always in trouble. Megan says they punished her. "You're forced to do manual labor, physical labor." Megan explained. Megan says she and Alix were forced to build a road. "We hoed it, each person, and we weeded it. And then they made us cart like wheelbarrows -- like huge wheelbarrows full of rocks up and spread 'em, so we basically built a dirt road on campus," she said. Ashley Kent remembers one night waking up to Alix screaming. What happened sounds like a scene out of a Stephen King movie. "She like kinda walked down the halls and like was cutting herself really late at night," she said. "She began just to hurt herself because she felt that's what she deserved," said Megan.' [19] 'Tichelman had such difficulties with Hyde staff that she was [restrained, put on a boat, and forced] to rough it on a school-owned island for a time. She left at the end of the 2003 academic year and eventually graduated from public Northview High School two years later.' [20]

"Joe Gauld writes that his wife, Blanche, was an alcoholic and that he himself had abused alcohol. This painful history may account for the cult... that sometimes makes life at Hyde feel like a free-floating session of Alcoholics Anonymous." "The school sometimes feels to the kids like prison." "'We’re not the school the kids want to go to,' as Malcolm Gauld puts it." [21] Joe Gauld had his teaching license revoked after physically assaulting a student on campus. He still lives on the Bath campus, and frequently interacts with students, both inside and outside his Bath campus home.

Hyde is frequently criticized for its liberal and pervasive usage of Attack Therapy, an outdated theory based on repeated humiliation and praise of children to modify behavior. This type of therapy has been repeatedly proven to cause lasting psychological damage to the participant. Licensed psychologists are not allowed to use this form of therapy in Maine. Some students have reported nightmares persisting years after receiving Attack Therapy at Hyde. Hyde's psychological conditioning sessions are so intense, they were compared to the infamous 'Hitler Youth' program by journalist Andy Porter.[22]

It is also known that the Hyde employed Peter Rowe, who had previously worked at the Elan School. This decision is controversial because Elan was shut down due to rampant physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Peter Rowe was known at Elan to be 'big on torture and used/supported/endorsed torture to "convert" thousands of "heretics".'

Hyde School has a forum section dedicated to it on the child abuse protection website "Fornits". This forum section is under the category of 'Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform'. There are over 300 posts, and more than 8,000 comments from former students, parents, and teachers. These entries detail the cruel and psychologically damaging environment Hyde staff create.

• Elijah Blue Allman, musician
• Renn Hawkey, musician and actor
• Robert King, journalist

• Official website
• Parenting: The Biggest Job
• Niche.com