Hyde was founded in 1966 by Joe Gauld, who had previously worked for 13 years in public and private schools. Concerned by "sentimentalist attitude" about child-raising, Gauld was inspired to start his own school emphasizing character and discipline. 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. 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. In the 1990s, the school was looking for a campus in the West due to a quarter of the student body being from California. In 1996, a second campus, known as Hyde-Woodstock, was opened in Woodstock, Connecticut on the campus of the former Annhurst College. Satellites were also established in Washington, D.C. and New York City were established under the umbrella of "The Hyde Organization." By 2016, both the Bath and Woodstock campuses were facing declining enrollment. 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. 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.
Educational model
The mission of Hyde is to build character and "reach students that nobody has been able to reach before" due to behavioral problems. Due to this, the school focuses on character education, leadership development, and developing student potential. Applicants' academic transcripts are not evaluated as part of the admission process; instead, students and their families take a two-hour interview. As part of the character-building curriculum, all students are required to participate in academics, performing arts, athletics, and community service. Hyde students evaluate themselves against the school's five principles of Courage, Integrity, Leadership, Curiosity, and Concern. Regular visits from parents are required; they also participate in regional groups away from campus. 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. 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. In keeping with the brother's keeper principle, students can stop classes and call "concern meetings" to challenge peers they feel are underprepared. 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. 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. In 2010, the Woodstock campus experimented with banning the use of technology on Tuesdays, in attempt to increase face-to-face communication. 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.
