Parents' Observations about Hyde School

I am amazed & heartened to see this site. I'm a parent whose child left Hyde last year - after 2 years. He transferred to another boarding school, one we should have enrolled in in the first place. ANY good small school with caring faculty would have done it for us - without the high drama of Hyde. People put their kids into Hyde in a crisis - often on the advice of a consultant. It was negligent to do this. Leaving Hyde was leaving a cult. I won't go on about this - lest I be accused by a Hyde fan of being over- emotional. My son wanted to go to a real school - one that valued academics and didn't use him as a 'proctor'. Hyde pressured him intensely, wanting him to stay and 'face his fears'. I had several horrendous phone calls with staff. At Hyde the first day they tell parents not to believe what your child tells you: Deciding to listen to my son and advocate for his leaving was the best and hardest thing I have ever done. Hyde doesn't want to hear the 'truth' - and when a parent and child decide what's best for themselves, they accuse you of various character flaws.

The 'seminars' - "let go, Let Hyde"... as they say...

With its foreground of "character" being more important that academic achievement, Hyde uses intensive ad hoc group therapy sessions to intentionally intrude into the fabric and balance of the family system. A retreat or "flc' is several days of 3 long 'seminars' a day punctuated by various group exercises designed to break down defenses. This is practicing family systems group therapy without a license. Of course no one at Hyde will admit this! Hyde can't call itself a therapeutic school, of course, because there is no qualified counseling staff running these seminars or working with the kids - despite the obvious needs of many if not most of the kids. With missionary zeal and techniques that you suddenly realize are quite coercive, they push their untested educational theory on families who didn't realize they were captives of the 'process'.

The premise of 'fix the family, fix the kid', and 'personal growth through the Hyde process" could not be more destructive. People end up disclosing intimate and often painful things about themselves. If a family chose to seek therapy, a trained therapist would guide this slowly over time and know what to do with the results. Imagine yourself In the 6th seminar hour of the 2nd day of a 4 day 'retreat' - led by an intrusive untrained leader pushing you to 'Tell the truth! What do you do when you don't go for truth!" - you're unbelievably divulging some intense personal issue (in front of your child...) and then - after hearing 'feedback' from the group (often misplaced, stereotyped and hurtful in itself), your time is up! Dry your tears! It's someone else's turn now! It's no wonder Hyde doesn't have therapist on their staff: no professional would do this to people. The state licensing boards ought to take more of an interest in what actually takes place in seminars. Not just individual psyches are damaged: marriages, sibling relationships - all if it. These people have no right to put families through this in the name of 'education'. And this is only what the parents see: it's the kids, who have to live this psychodrama day after day, who are really stuck. Imagine being an underclassmen and having a posse of 'seniors who run the school' in your room at night accusing you of being 'dirty'. ("Dirty" - their work for 'breaking ethics'). "If you're not dirty, are you willing to sign this paper saying if we find anything on you that you won't go home for spring break?"

As I read this I cannot believe I ever got involved to the level I did. In my region, for a time, I held a leadership position where I was supposed to do this to others. I regret not standing up at these seminars and walking out, I regret any hurtful intrusion I ever made into other people and at some point I will write apologies and explanations to them.

Simplest advice - stay away. If you or your family need therapy, get a good therapist. If you need a therapeutic school, there are many. If you need a boarding school, find one. It's hard to believe Hyde gets away with this. Any why am I anonymous? Maybe in a year I won't be. At the moment I still don't trust the school - I do feel like I've left a cult. I left my brains at the door when I entered, and hopefully my experience will prevent you from doing the same. 


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Hyde preys upon the anxieties of desperate parents-- but in most cases parents with significant financial means.  Hyde plays on the hopes, fears and anxieties of parents who feel that they are at their wits end in trying to help their troubled teen-- once matriculated at Hyde, Hyde immediately turns the tables and points the finger at the parents-- "it's all your fault".

The administration is full of unlicensed and inadequately untrained personnel. Nepotism is rife in the administration and leadership of Hyde.   The senior administration is well looked after.  Of course, Hyde does not disclose its financial position..... but it is very light on endowments... for obvious reasons. Hyde is accepting major funding from state education authorities yet it is not (by a long shot) in compliance with state or federal requirements relating to this funding....and Hyde knows it.  

The 'community' of which they often speak is a figment of their own creations....marketing spin abounds, claims to success are not backed up by any measurable standards.  Accountability by the School to parents is  non-existent...interaction and communication with federal and state funding and licensing agencies is 'managed'-- read 'spun.

When you arrive at Hyde for registration, along with the indoctrination into Hyde, you are hyped to buy Joe Gauld's books (not inexpensive)..with the continuing reminder that you will need these for your journey through Hyde. The fund raising hype continues throughout the year, constant solicitations to give considerable amounts of money to the school.

The academic program is very weak, many unlicensed teachers.....while there are some dedicated teachers (these tend not to last very long) among the faculty and staff are many, many recovering ( many not recovered) alcoholics, embezzlers, etc.-- all with a messianic message to  impart (read "shove down your throat") their own view of the world-- several still with significant problems, hot temperaments and abusive personalities.

Approximately 45% of the student population consists of adopted children, yet there is no one on staff trained in adoption related issues.

We were harassed continually by staff, and it was demanded that we discuss the personal aspects of our lives, all on the basis that this would be 'liberating'....well, it wasn't liberating-- not by a long shot....we witnessed several families being torn apart. Luckily, we did regular sanity self-checks, and concluded that Hyde is an aberrant environment.

There is no question that Hyde School is engaging in psychological counselling on a very grand scale without participation of any staff (or consultants) qualified in this area. We heartily support the view that state licensing authorities should investigate the practices at Hyde.  Hyde counters that it is a private school and free to do what it wants.

Hyde is set on beautiful landscaped premises, but don't be fooled by the window dressing.  It is a 'prison' mentality and environment, where the spirit of each of the 'inmates' is broken down and  quashed into the ground....most of those who are 'permitted' to become seniors are "Stepford Kids"-- whose conversations consist primarily of Hyde-isms....none are truly capable of independent thinking, or self discipline. Few are adequately prepared either academically or in terms of social development for university.

The churn in the student body and in staff is incredible (though Hyde refuses to share this data).

Hypocrisy abounds at Hyde.  One of Hyde's principal tenets is "Truth over Harmony"...unfortunately, Hyde has difficulty looking at itself in the mirror.

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Well, this afternoon I drove one of my child's Hyde friends to the bus station to return to school after a brief stop home (she spent Thanksgiving with our family because of problems her own family is struggling with).

This Hyde student (not an off-track student) spoke in the car, pretty much non stop and without leading questions from me, about how awful she thinks the Hyde model is.  This is a reasonably mature, thoughtful student.  She wasn't whining or simply bitching and moaning.  Rather, she was reflecting on her Hyde experience so far.  Here are the highlights of her observations:

- The vast majority of kids who enroll at Hyde don't finish.  The Hyde model doesn't work for most kids who go there.

- The Hyde kids who finish either don't have major mental health issues, are kids of Hyde faculty/staff, or learn how to play the Hyde game and fly below radar.

- This student's estimate is that about 75 percent of Hyde kids come to the school with major mental health problems.  She spoke about kids she's gotten to know who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, cutting, major anxiety, major depression, eating disorders, etc.  This student is amazed, now that she has a sense of the Hyde student body, that the school doesn't have mental health professionals on staff.

- This student spoke passionately about another Hyde student who "snapped" because her psychiatric issues weren't addressed.  According to my passenger, the Hyde student who snapped was showing all kinds of psychiatric symptoms, but Hyde didn't respond to those signs.  Apparently this kid spun out of control at Hyde because of the pressure there and is now in a residential treatment center.

- This student described a Hyde student who suffers from anorexia.  This student apparently skipped several meals (not surprising given the disease) and Hyde's response was to put the kid on disciplinary 2-4.  (Incredible.  Anyone who knows anything about treating anorexia would never respond this way.)

- This student launched into a (rather amusing and accurate) impersonation of Joe Gauld.  She went on and on about how the majority of Hyde kids think Joe Gauld is a joke and full of himself.  This student respects some Hyde staff but thinks Joe Gauld has no idea what others think of his predictable and embarrassing Hyde sermon.

I was very impressed with this student's insight and accurate perception of Hyde.  At her tender age she has come to virtually all of the same major conclusions others have expressed on this website.