Hyde. H ave Y our D es tiny E mbraced. This was always my own acronym. I have been graduated from Hyde since 1995. I had first heard of Hyde from a family friend when I was little and knew then that this was a special place. I was lucky enough that when I attempted my public school freshman year and got lost quickly that my mother and father were in agreement it was not only a chance for me to figure myself out through Joesph Gaulds brilliant philosophy of focusing on character first and to have faith that the rest of life follows. I have a fond memory of having never playing a sport before running cross country and Monday morning during the school meetings a junior who didn't even know me well since it had only been a few weeks at Hyde stand up and say," I would like to congratulate Jessica for coming in first place at Gould Academy . I'm forty four and that moment changed me. It was just the beginning of me realizing that I was visible and I did something that I could take with me. That moment seemed to cover so many other moments when previously I had felt low and didn't even know what I was capable of. Then to go onto my second year and being a part of cross country skiing and three of us girls who had never even skate skied before made it to the junior olympics! Seriously when would I have ever had the exposure to be a part of anything like this? And my junior year to take my English class in that gorgeous historic mansion, the English teacher who was so passionate about Martin Scorsese films, and watching him explain to us what foreshadowing was while the fireplace was on. Then to my senior year where I played varsity lacrosse and received coaching from a woman who is now the head lacrosse coach at Boston College. Ironically her husband ended up being my sons wrestling coach twenty three years later. My son had been an athlete but Hyde had requested him to do a one on one sport because all of his sports were team sports and they wanted my son to see for himself what was he made of on his own one on one on a wrestling mat. He ended up with MVP his first year wrestling because he was put in a situation that had he been at a regular complete prep school where academics and being the best are all that matters He would never have had that chance. Hyde does one thing differently than any other school, they request that your family ask the same question to themselves that the students are asking themselves, that they inquire the mission statement, words, and principles in each thing that they attempt. If we don't learn who we are, how to strengthen our weaknesses and not let our weaknesses run our lives Then what happens ? The staff and alumni, and family makes sure that when you hit a bump it gets faced. In our daily lives we hit bumps all the time but we don't have time or don't know what to do with our problems, this school asks us to stop, acknowledge, handle and heal. When else will we ever get a chance to do this? And where else do we get the opportunity to share this with our families? There will always be people that don't "get it" at Hyde. And for them I'm sorry. It's pretty cut and dry. If you fight the truth like any place in life there are consequences. Seeing my name on the list at sixteen in the cold winter to head to Eustis Maine and go spend time with a few students outside the curriculum was scary but the best ten days of my life. I didn't know I could be that strong, that resourceful, and I still have the journal that I wrote in! Wow! Was I young!! All I can say is I will forever be grateful for that man Joseph Gauld and his incredible family who believed in his vision and have changed so many lives and families. My son and I were lucky enough to get a one on one with Joey two years ago and my son to this day has the picture of him and the founder on the couch with me taking It. Funny that my son who would complain any second he could wanted a picture with Joey Gauld the minute we walked into the room. He knew he wanted proof that he was with and had been part of something very special. Every school has staff that needs to leave and disgruntiled students, but there is no way that a school that was founded in 1966, 55 years ago, that has touched over 35,000 lives when you include families is still standing with a waitlist if it wasn't making a dent in this massive world. And to think we have reached China, Africa, Japan, and much more!! Talk about a ripple affect. Proud to be an alum! read more

Summary :A place as alternative & free range w punishment as this does not always bring out the best in the people who carry that power. The ability to control students lives to excessive & intrusive degrees while being held to little or no requirements of reason currupt everyone unless they are very buddhic in nature. Unfortunately the staff at this school reflect the average empath to sociopath ratio present in the average population. (This means that both good & bad people equally hold an excessive & intrusive degrees of control over students lives) Also just look at any institution that calls their rules "ethics" and attempts to make a point that aligning yourself against them as being an "unethical" person. I was a student here for two years, & while I have been to a lot of different schools this is the only school I've gone to that I would say is eerily similar to a cult. Hyde school doesn't focus on academics as much as on an alternative curriculum that is identical in function to psychotherapy, human potential, & transformation cults such as the Westborough Baptist church & the church of Scientology to give a few common examples. While obviously the school doesn't exist on the same scale as those cults the schools discipline structure is almost completely flexible. Which allows the staff to make disciplinary decisions based on their personal feelings & opinions of students. (This tends to lean much more towards personal feelings than professionalism) The school has everyone, from its staff to its students, get involved in the lives of everyone around them teaching them to assume they have the right, ability & then obligation to make it their business, even when the person clearly & verbally does not agree or consent to the intrusion. It doesn't prepare students for college, just college acceptance. In my personal experience from Hyde Woodstock... the 12th grade history class is called "ethics & philosophy" but it fails to teach any kind of academic philosophy (Which is the basis of any academic or college philosophy courses) & skips whole areas of study like all of eastern philosophy & doesn't even mention that these other fields exist. It only teaches the work of a few philosophers like Plato & Socrates who's specific views support Hyde schools Pseudo-psychology. The class literally just manipulates the students (often in fun ways) but ultimately just teaches them to question themselves & after it "misbalances them" then attempts to program students by providing Hyde's own "structures of learning" as answers. (look up their pyramid of learning, like cmon) At Hyde schools if you try to not get involved in the alternative curriculum (Instead trying to focus on things such as academics, sports or a social life) they make changes to your academic, living & social conditions, because the alternative curriculum has an importance above anything else in the school. I am a former student of two years. I've been to plenty of "alternative schools" & while some are better than others, this is the only school that looks at themselves & their school system in such a cultish or "we have all the answers" kind of light. A lot of students say that this school is cult, but I don't just want to say it I want to explain it. So many students say it's a cult because there's more than just a small grain of truth. There were also a lot of good times in my two years as well, but I do think this school should be shut down unless it can actually take its role as an academic institution more seriously & develop a more grounded & realistic view of itself Remember this is a school that wants parents to bring their kids back. They don't really listen to what the students say unless the students are saying what they want to hear. (In my senior class every parent received their own personal diploma for the son or daughter graduating HS, but only around ten out of 50 students received a diploma for physically graduating HS. The rest received what they call "certificates" & "documents" In two years there are just too many examples to write down. PS many other things from personally having my passport confiscated(i had no other legal id) to what can only be described as physical threats by staff at students in front of crowds of people. &they have either created alternative definitions of the words & phrases that hang in giant banners in the main meeting room, or they don't actually know the what the words mean themselves read more

Our child attended Hyde for one year. We enrolled her because of the school's (alleged) emphasis on character (a colleague told us about Hyde). After our daughter attended the summer program, we experienced what felt like a "hard sell" to enroll her for the fall. We deeply regret the decision. We entered the Hyde community with strong intentions to comply with and embrace the model. What we found, in fact, was remarkable hypocrisy and arrogance among several key staffers, very unimpressive academics, and an embarrassing naivete regarding how to treat students who struggle with behavioral health challenges. Beyond the notorious Gauld "cult" and several Hyde lifers, most of the staff we met were very young and inexperienced. Academic rigor lacked. We discovered, after we enrolled, that a very large percentage of Hyde students struggle with behavioral health issues that are not skillfully addressed, to the students' detriment. Overall, Hyde struck us as an intensely destructive environment that seems to work for a relatively small percentage of students and families that buy into a very judgmental and often punitive environment. We learned a painful lesson as a result of our Hyde experience and explored alternatives. Our child transferred to another boarding school, where she spent two years. The new school was truly a breath of fresh air. Staff were much more strengths-oriented, held high standards in a far more constructive way compared with Hyde, employed much more skilled and mature staff, and promoted students' personal growth much more skillfully. We strongly recommend that parents NOT enroll their children at Hyde. Review the many posts by former Hyde students on websites that review residential schools and programs for struggling teens; these former students comment at length on the dark Hyde underbelly. Please explore the many appealing alternatives. read more

If you want your child to become a smiling robot tattle teller, incapable of original thought, then this is the place for YOU! I was sent to this place for a summer session in the late 90s and as an adult, knowing what I know now, I can adamantly declare this purported "school" is actually a cult; led by people who defend their circular logic with the reminiscence of religious fanaticism. Hyde attempts to ingrain an impractical set of morals, skewed from reality, by way of threatening kids with, what I would call abusive, physical exhaustion at even the slightest suggestion of questioning their odd practices. If you question their logic, then you must be hiding something and be subject to punishment, otherwise you wouldn't question them.... right? The superiors in this cult aggressively threaten anyone who steps out of line with the threat of making their lives a living hell with 3 main tiers of punishment designed to break your soul. They hire former "students" from the cult to oversee the new "students" and while I was there, half of the staffers were caught high on acid and thrown out. Thats right, Hyde's system is so infallible that the students they trusted most to guide the newcomers down their road to "integrity" were dropping acid and barking at students. I just found out they never reported this to my parents at the time. For a school that supposedly holds integrity in such high regard, you'd think they would let parents know they were leaving their kids with a bunch of power tripping acid heads. Who cares though right? Its only 10s of thousands of dollars out of your pocket! And now they have the nerve to ask me for donations (I have no idea how they found out where I live). KEEP YOUR CHILD AWAY FROM THIS PLACE read more

A Cautionary Tale: A School That Should Not Be an Option for Any Child It's shocking to read the glowing reviews from parents claiming this school transformed their children. Based on my personal experience, I feel compelled to share the truth. This institution is far from the nurturing environment it's made out to be. I attended this school, and what I witnessed and endured was nothing short of traumatic. It wasn't about helping students -- it was about breaking them down, dehumanizing them, and forcing conformity at any cost. Some of the horrendous tactics included: Haircuts for misbehavior -- stripping students of their identity and self-esteem. Isolation -- silent treatment and being forced to shadow someone for days without speaking, an attempt to break your spirit. Physical abuse -- teachers resorting to violent methods to enforce control. Punitive physical activities -- forced to run for miles with shin splints, and if you complained, it only made it worse. Thankfully, my father listened when I spoke up and removed me from this abusive environment. He found a school that fostered my independence and supported me in becoming the best version of myself. As a parent now, I would never send my child to a place like this. If your child is struggling with their behavior, or if you're looking for ways to help them find their place, there are plenty of better options available. Schools that provide real, positive transformation without resorting to abuse or attempts to mold children into something they're not. Please, do your research. Your child deserves more than this. read more

This place is a joke. They preach "Character First" education but they hardly follow their own mantra. The school is like communism, on paper and in concept it works wonderfully, but in practice its just a huge stinking pile. The teachers are sub par and are forced to teach to the least educated in the classrooms, so children who are well educated never get challenged or given the opportunity to truly excel. Furthermore, the overall lack of adult supervision, (which they claim is to force kids to learn to be responsible for themselves) means that the inmates are running the prison. The school holds a "better than you" attitude, and if you disagree with what they say or if you aren't doing well then, "its not the right time for you to learn this now, but maybe later you will get it." In other words, the school puts themselves in a place where they can easily cast off those who aren't exemplary and take credit who those who do excel. The school is built on promises made to parents who are struggling with being a parent that no school could ever fulfill and they charge exorbitant tuition and boarding fees to these parents who are feeling desperate. They prey on parents who are having a hard time and promises more then it could ever deliver, then demonizes parents for their misdoings. Overall this is more of a cult then a school and a bad one at that. read more

My experience at Hyde School left lasting emotional and psychological impacts that I'm still working through today. While the school presents itself as a character-based, values-driven program, the environment I experienced felt more controlling instead of supportive. Many of the practices, in my opinion, blurred the line between discipline and emotional manipulation. During my time there, I often felt isolated, shamed, and unsupported in ways that did not foster personal growth, but rather left me feeling diminished. I witnessed and experienced group dynamics that prioritized public confrontation over private guidance, and a culture that seemed to reward conformity and punishment more than genuine understanding or empathy. Looking back, I would not recommend this school to families seeking a nurturing or psychologically safe environment. I strongly encourage anyone considering Hyde to research carefully, seek out diverse firsthand accounts, and evaluate whether the school's philosophy aligns with your values and your child's emotional well-being. This is my personal experience and opinion based on my time there. read more

I attended Hyde's Woodstock campus in the early 2000s. My parents were sold a lie by Hyde administrators, who promised that the school could help cure my depression. That did not happen. What DID happen was a year of physical and emotional abuse--yes, abuse-- by staff members, other students (who were egged on by staff members), and the founder's family themselves. Approximately 10% of my classmates from that year are dead from suicide or overdose, which says a lot about Hyde's "success" rate. For anyone doubting the legitimacy of these claims, I urge you to go to https://linktr.ee/hydesurvivors and read for yourself the overwhelming cases of documented abuse, which include court documents indicating that a former Hyde teacher was accused of sexual assault by multiple students. That teacher was allowed to live on campus. I (at the time a 16 year old girl) ate dinner at his home, not knowing that only two years prior he'd been removed from teaching duties but kept on Hyde's payroll. Parents, please do your research before sending your child to this abusive boarding school. https://linktr.ee/hydesurvivors read more

Anyone who is a parent, plans to be a parent, or was once a child of a parent, should be aware of Hyde School. Yes, that includes us all. The Hyde School approach has helped thousands of people reflect on their lives, fulfill their goals, and become more effective parents. I am sorry to see the negative reviews because, as an educator, I have rarely seen an academic approach that is more effective in helping students take responsibility, aim high, and deal with what might stand in their way. With great humility, I observed my own life and made changes to make the most of life's journey. My children attended Hyde and my husband and I have volunteered as alumni parents. Read about Hyde. While you may never visit the Hyde School campus, I guarantee you will reflect on your life so far and think about your future life choices. If you have a chance, though, explore the possibility for you and your family to attend Hyde. Even the interview can be a thought provoking and beneficial experience. read more

Character and integrity. Two traits that Hyde helped our son Michael find in himself. Finding his voice, staking his claim in our family dynamic, learning that he had so much to offer the world and himself. Michael spent a PG year at Hyde. We felt the vibe when we first walked in. Michael was willing to dive into the process of self searching, self discovery and reflecting. The support that Michael received in a character building culture, an academic cirriculum that challenged him appropriately, he was able to be vulnerable and explore who he is and what he's got. Michael learned GRIT. We are forever grateful. The mandatory family participation, brought his Dad, myself and Michael closer together. The biggest gift was the mending of the relationship with his older brother that had broken down over the years. The sibling weekend retreat provided a safe space to set things straight in a judgement free environment. Priceless. Our gratitude to Hyde is lifelong! read more

Hyde was exactly what I needed and I really benefitted from it. I was a kid who was not held accountable for anything by my parents or my school. No one cared how I behaved or performed, and I did not possess the strength or confidence to demand these things from myself. I felt depressed, hopeless, and didn't believe in myself. Hyde raised the bar for me. They expected more from me, because they saw my potential. If I didn't perform to the level I was capable of, they called me out on it. At that point in my life, I needed expectations, because I did not set them for myself. I rose to the occasion at Hyde, and graduated with a different opinion of myself, with a higher set of standards. I've held on to these core beliefs since then, and I believe that Hyde was a real game changer. I would recommend it to anyone that is ready to do the work on themselves. And sometimes you don't know you're ready until you get there. Riva Class of 1990 read more

When I went to the Hyde campus for the first time in August 2022 to drop my daughter off to start her Junior Academic Year, I noticed that 5 values were written on the Stone next to the School's mascot, they are: Courage: Hyde always encouraged my daughter to perform on the Perform Art, Swimming, Lacrosse, Soccer and Tennis. Integrity: Maintaining respect for teachers, staff, peers and family was a value that Hyde always demonstrated during my interaction with the Community, and it also developed a broad collective spirit in my daughter. Leadership: My daughter had the opportunity to lead Dance teams, participate in Maine Leadership Day, Discovery group and graduation for all Hyde's Community and family Concern: I had several interactions with the Hyde Community, Directors, Dorm Parents, Teachers. My family and I will be eternally grateful to the Hyde Community. Parents Alumuni Class 2024. Wellington - São Paulo - Brazil read more

From the years of 1999-2001 this place was a living nightmare. We were awoken in the middle of the night to drill sergeants screaming in our faces, and doing the equivalent of military boot camp workouts routinely in the rain, snow, etc... We were stripped of our self worth and brainwashed to believe we were worthless and deserved what they were doing. Many students began self mutilating, or even tried committing suicide...many succeeded after leaving HYDE. Hearing of how many people took their lives after leaving this school still haunts me. Teachers were engaging in sexual relations with students, teachers were threatening students, and the level of corruption that occurred was vast. I know I will never be the same from what I've seen and endured while at this school, however despite the panic attacks and depression, I'm still better than most that left this institution... read more

If I could give a ZERO rating, I would. I went here for 2.5 years. These 2.5 years were the worst of my life. The harrowing punative measures are rampant. Terrible faculty with literally no appropriate credentials to be working with adolescence, for anybody in my opinion. Did not prepare me for college and there are still HUGE holes in knowledge of how to live as a human being in the world. This school has NOT changed since the time I attended. They use EXTREME manipulation to control each student and their families. The school left me off 100% worse off than i entered it. Hyde School and the people that run it do not just encourage the use of "tough love" - they abuse children. Parents reading this - sending your child to this institution is the worst possible choice for ANY kid, let alone unruly adolescents. Just say "no" to Hyde School and its other incorporations! read more

I sent my son to The Hyde School a depressed, angry and withdrawn child. I just recieved a call from him( 5 months later) asking if he could do a post graduate year and could we afford to send him for three more years. The progress he has made in such a short time at Hyde is quite remarkable! This is the fifth school he has been to and the only one that has been able to get through to him. His father and I are so happy with the person he is becomming and attribute it all to the staff at Hyde. Involving the family in the process of our son's education has been such a growth process for us and I believe has helped our son realize that he is not alone. I urge anyone who has had a child struggled in more traditional school environments to consider Hyde! read more

Hyde has helped our family in ways I haven't yet tried to put into words. From the moment we arrived on campus for an introductory interview, we could tell that something was very different. This is a true wrap-around program, with family support components that we had never imagined. Components that have pushed us to improve and model the very qualities we want for our children, but in ourselves. Unexpected, provocative, and not for every student, as evidenced by the disparity of the reviews contained here. Students are either going to get with the program or they are going to turn into 1-star reviewers. Success in life requires the ability to turn the lens on oneself and strive to improve, and it has worked for us. Thank you Hyde! read more

As a family, we really benefited from the experience Hyde provided for us. Participating in the Hyde family weekends was a truly incredible bonding moment for us as a family and we really got to know each-other throughout our time spent with Hyde school. Our daughter transferred to Hyde during her junior year as continued through to graduation, she was fortunate enough to be re-accepted into the school for a fifth year character development program. The growth and maturity we have seen in her during those three years makes us so proud and we couldn't have been more satisfied with our Hyde experience! I could never say enough great things about Hyde and the Staff. read more

Don't waste your money on sending your child to this school. Many of teens that are enrolled there have serious drug issues which the school is not capable of helping. The motto is "be the best you can be". Unfortunately, the school does not (or did not) have people that were qualified to address drug issues, let alone the other social problems that a teen has. Seek true professional help rather than sending them to this cult-like school. If you are referred to this school, please get another professional opinion before you enroll and send your child there. read more

My son met Hyde in 11th grade. This year, he will continue to university by studying the 12th grade in the new academic year. During the 1-year period he spent in Hyde, he experienced many positive changes in terms of character and personality. His self-confidence, decision-making and leadership skills have greatly increased. Hyde teachers are very good at treating students and support students and support their development in an encouraging way. We are so happy we chose Hyde. I highly recommend it to parents who want their children to study in America. read more