Hyde School (Maine)

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Hyde School
Address
616 High Street Bath , Maine 04530 United States
Coordinates	43°54′18″N 69°49′23″W / 43.904945°N 69.822927°W / 43.904945; -69.822927Coordinates: 43°54′18″N 69°49′23″W / 43.904945°N 69.822927°W / 43.904945; -69.822927
Information
Type	Private, college-preparatory boarding school
Motto	Be The Best Possible You
Established	1966; 56 years ago (1966)
Founder	Joe Gauld
NCES School ID	00563551[1]
Head of School and President	Laura Gauld[2]
Teaching staff	29.0 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Grades	9–12 PG
Gender	Co-educational
Enrollment	144 (2015–2016)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	5.0[1]
Campus size	145 acres (59 ha)
Campus type	Rural
Color(s)	Blue and gold
Athletics conference	New England Preparatory School Athletic Council
Mascot	Wolfpack
Website	www.hyde.edu

Hyde School is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school for grades 9–12 and postgraduate in Bath, Maine, United States. It was established in 1966 by Joe Gauld, and it specializes in teaching character and leadership to a variety of students who have not flourished in traditional academic programs for a variety of reasons, sometimes academic and sometimes behavioral.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]} In 2016, Joe Gauld "receive[d] the 2016 Sanford N. McDonnell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education" from Character.org.^[9][10]

History[]

Hyde was founded in 1966 by Joe Gauld, who had previously worked for 13 years in public and private schools.^[11][4] Concerned by "sentimentalist attitude[s]" about child-raising,^[12] he discerned that "society is blind to the reality that teens need to face and overcome difficult challenges if thery are to become confident, productive, fulfilled adults."^[13] He was inspired to create a curriculum focused on "development of character and a deeper sense of purpose" than just achieving good grades, going to a good college, and having a good job.^[14] He first took this vision to Berwick Academy when he was appointed headmaster there.^[4][15] Gauld recounts how conflicts with the trustees about his educational innovations led to his resignation, although one reporter writes that he was fired.^[4][15]

Gauld went on to establish the Hyde School at Elmhurst (commonly known as the Hyde Mansion), formerly the estate of "John Sedgewick Hyde, the son of Bath Iron Works (BIW) founder Thomas W. Hyde".^[16][17] Loans from friends and family, as well as "donations from the three heirs of the Hyde family", funded its purchase.^[18] The site included the Hyde Mansion with its indoor swimming pool, an educational wing built by the interim owners, the Pine Tree Society for Crippled Children and Adults, and 145 acres of land.^[19] The school is named after the Hyde family, the original owners.^[19]

Opened as a school for boys, Hyde went co-ed in 1971.^[13] Initial expansion plans began in the 1970s, with the school considering sites in the Midwest.^[20][21] In the 1990s, the school was also considering a "satellite school" on the West Coast, since a quarter of the student body at the time was from California.^[22] When a site became available in Woodstock, Connecticut in 1996, a second campus, known as Hyde-Woodstock, was opened on the campus of the former Annhurst College.^[22] In 1996, Hyde also purchased "a 700-acre tract of western maine woodland" in Eustis, ME, that is used as its wilderness campus.^[23][24]

Hyde has had some impact in the public school sector.^[25] Hyde ran a charter school in Washington, D.C. from 1999 to 2011.^[26][27] It currently has a K-12 charter school in the Bronx (Hyde Leadership Charter High School) and a K-6 charter school in Brooklyn (Hyde Leadership Charter School).^[28][29][30]

By 2016, like other boarding schools, 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).^[31] 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, as well as leading to plans to renovate some of the facilities.^[32][5]

Founding principles[]

Hyde opened in 1966 as a college preparatory school for boys who wanted a "vigorous personal challenge" meant to foster a rugged individualism and the "qualities of self-confidence, self-discipline, and perspective. It also ran a summer program for students "of high potential, and low achievement."^[33] The school went co-ed in 1971, and by 1973, the mission had gained focus, and Joseph Gauld would say that "The development of character is the primary goal of the school."^[13][3][34] While some saw the students as "problem children," Gauld, in contrast, saw the educational system as the problem: "if you are an honest kid you have got to have conflicts with the present method of education."^[34] Gauld felt that "The education system...was channeling students into college and preparing them for careers, but was stifling their personal growth." By graduation time, instead of priding themself on the college they had been admitted to, a Hyde student would, instead, have "confidence to run his own life"; he would "believe in himself."^[20] In other words, Gauld wanted "to put the development of character, honesty, integrity and leadership ahead of test scores and college admissions."^[35]

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.^[4][3] Due to this, the school focuses on character education, leadership development, and developing student potential.^[12][36] Applicants' academic transcripts are not evaluated as part of the admission process; instead, students and their families take a two-hour interview.^[4][22]

As part of the character-building curriculum, all students are required to participate in academics, performing arts, athletics, and community service.^[4][22] Hyde students evaluate themselves against the school's five principles of Courage, Integrity, Leadership, Curiosity, and Concern.^[37] Regular visits from parents are required; they also participate in regional groups away from campus.^[22][37] 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.^[38][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][12] Students can stop classes and call "concern meetings" to challenge peers they feel are underprepared.^[39] Examples of past disciplinary procedures include corporal punishment such as slapping and public paddling, a student being thrown in a duck pond, 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.^{[40][41][35][39][12][7]}

In 2010, the Woodstock campus experimented with banning the use of technology on Tuesdays, in attempt to increase face-to-face communication.^[36]

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.^[42]

Notable alumni[]

• Elijah Blue Allman, musician
• Nelson Barritt Arnstein, MD '71 - Nuclear Medicine, Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center, Downey CA
• Spencer Garrett ‘82 - Actor, member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
• Michael Gran ‘03 - Artist. Known as “Typoe,” Mr. Gran is an up-and-coming Miami-based artist who is developing a national presence
• Renn Hawkey, musician and actor
• Adam Hunter '96 - Actor and comic
• Jim Irving ’71 - Co-Chief Executive Officer of J.D. Irving, Limited (JDI), a diverse family owned company with operations in Canada and the United States
• Robert Irving ’73 - Co-Chief Executive Officer of J.D. Irving, Limited (JDI), a diverse family owned company with operations in Canada and the United States
• Stuart Jones '78 -American Diplomat. Former U.S. Ambassador to Jordan and Iraq
• Robert King, journalist

Hyde publications[]

• Gauld, Joseph W. The Courage to Grow, The Hyde School, 1975.
• Gauld Joseph W. Character First: The Hyde School Difference, The Hyde School Foundation, 1993.
• Gauld, Malcolm & Laura Gauld. The Biggest Job We'll Ever Have: The Hyde School Program for Character-Based Education and Parenting, Scribner, 2003.
• Gauld, Joseph W. Nature's Parenting Process: 5 Simple Truths to Empower Our Children, The Hyde Foundation, 2010.
• Gauld, Malcolm. College Success Guaranteed: 5 Rules to Make It Happen, R&L Education, 2011.
• Gauld, Joseph W. What Kids Want and Need From Parents: How to Bond with and Mentor Children, Argo-Navis, 2012.
• Gauld, Joseph W. Hyde: Preparation for Life, The Hyde Foundation, 2012.

References[]

External links[]

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