Lawsuits and complaints against Hyde School?

[Anonymous]

i went to that fucked up school my sophmore year of high school. There is definatly bad things that go down there. Let me know if you guys wnat to hear anything about my experience.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-13 08:05:00, Anonymous wrote:

"i went to that fucked up school my sophmore year of high school. There is definatly bad things that go down there. Let me know if you guys wnat to hear anything about my experience."

Hi, I would like to know about your experience.  Which campus did you go to and how did you like it?  How come u were sent there by ur parents?

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-13 08:05:00, Anonymous wrote:

"i went to that fucked up school my sophmore year of high school. There is definatly bad things that go down there. Let me know if you guys wnat to hear anything about my experience."

What was your experience at Hyde?  Which campus did you go to?  What are your impressions of Hyde, from a student's point of view?

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-10 18:31:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-05-10 17:51:00, Anonymous wrote:


"

On 2006-05-10 17:26:00, Anonymous wrote:



"I did a search on hyde:







zero results







Maybe there search engine sucks







Sue"

You didn't look closely enough.  Hyde is in there."

Here's more information about Hyde from the Internet (book review at Amazon):



 More to Hyde than what is written..., April 5, 2005

Reviewer:   Hyde Student (Hyde School) - See all my reviews

I am a current student at the Hyde School. I saw this book on amazon.com and immediately thought that I should post a comment on what I felt and truths behind the philosophy and how it is taught.



I recall hearing a statement that someone believes Hyde is viewed by many as something along the lines of a cult. It is true; many students have used that metaphor many times, including me. They believe that they are always right, and there is no way around it. Their philosophy is great; the views and things they try to teach the students are dead-on and I barely have any complaints about them. HOWEVER, they go about teaching them the wrong way. Example: There is a prinipal at Hyde that they call "Brother's Keeper," which is defined as holding eachother to their best. This idea is a great idea and should be practiced, however students should not be penalized and given severe consequences for such petty incidents such as being with someone who is wearing a hat inside a building. They go about dealing with students using profanity by making them do pushups rather than actually seeing the reason behind the profanity and seeing if there was, infact, true justification for it's use.



Example of a severe consequence? "2-4." I believe it stands for 24 hours in a day, in which a student is put on "2-4" for an indefinite period of time. While on "2-4," a student is not permitted to talk to anyone else in the school except for faculty, not allowed to eat hot food on the lunch line (bagels, salads, etc. are allowed), rake leaves/shovel snow/clean all the buildings (depending on the season), and must attend "5:30's" every day. What is a "5:30," you ask? It is when a student is required to be inside the gymnasium at 5:30 in the morning in order to conduct a workout. These include suicides (the type of running, not the taking of one's own life), laps, pushups, situps, wall-sits, and basically every form of physical work you can think of. I have been on "2-4" for weeks at a time because Hyde dean's THOUGHT that I had broken rules and still had them on my consciense, which I clearly did not. I am scared to use my real name on Amazon, my grade, what year I am in at Hyde, or even which campus I am at, because I would most likely be put on "2-4" for attitude and have to deal with multiple confrontations about something along the lines of a "rebel attitude."



I apologize because it seems that this is turning into a whole complaint and argument against Hyde, which is not my intention. This is not the place for that. However, I am just trying to portray some things regarding Hyde that you may not know of by just reading Joe Gauld's (whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, as well as his son, Malcom Gauld) book. I have lived this book for long enough to know what I am talking about.



Basically, my advice is to not look at this review and say "Hyde must be full of bs" because Hyde is far from it. Their views are great and their philosophy is great, but the way they teach it to their students is way too off. I suggest reading this book if you have children and carefully looking at all of the ideas and philosophies in the book. However, I suggest NOT teaching your children those ideas in the ways that may be described in the text, but rather using your own ways and seeing what works on your child, because no technique will work for everyone. Hyde's techniques have worked on a select few individuals in my school (I'd say around 7 out of over 200), and I have seen more negative results than positive results."

I agree with you when you say that some of the Hyde principles are good but the way the school implements them is so far off base.  When I was at Hyde I witnessed many incidents where students were put on 2-4 for days at a time and given 5:30's when the staff should have realized that the kid was dealing with some major trauma or emotional problem.  I think that's Hyde's most serious problem.  They react to everything as if its an attitude problem.  I can hear Joe Gauld's voice as I write this.  The truth is that there are so many different reasons why kids have trouble at Hyde.  Calling everything an attitude problem is just plain wrong.  Many of the kids I knew at Hyde needed a different kind of school.  I can see that now.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-17 02:27:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-05-10 18:31:00, Anonymous wrote:


"

On 2006-05-10 17:51:00, Anonymous wrote:



"

On 2006-05-10 17:26:00, Anonymous wrote:




"I did a search on hyde:









zero results









Maybe there search engine sucks









Sue"

You didn't look closely enough.  Hyde is in there."

Here's more information about Hyde from the Internet (book review at Amazon):





 More to Hyde than what is written..., April 5, 2005


Reviewer:   Hyde Student (Hyde School) - See all my reviews


I am a current student at the Hyde School. I saw this book on amazon.com and immediately thought that I should post a comment on what I felt and truths behind the philosophy and how it is taught.





I recall hearing a statement that someone believes Hyde is viewed by many as something along the lines of a cult. It is true; many students have used that metaphor many times, including me. They believe that they are always right, and there is no way around it. Their philosophy is great; the views and things they try to teach the students are dead-on and I barely have any complaints about them. HOWEVER, they go about teaching them the wrong way. Example: There is a prinipal at Hyde that they call "Brother's Keeper," which is defined as holding eachother to their best. This idea is a great idea and should be practiced, however students should not be penalized and given severe consequences for such petty incidents such as being with someone who is wearing a hat inside a building. They go about dealing with students using profanity by making them do pushups rather than actually seeing the reason behind the profanity and seeing if there was, infact, true justification for it's use.





Example of a severe consequence? "2-4." I believe it stands for 24 hours in a day, in which a student is put on "2-4" for an indefinite period of time. While on "2-4," a student is not permitted to talk to anyone else in the school except for faculty, not allowed to eat hot food on the lunch line (bagels, salads, etc. are allowed), rake leaves/shovel snow/clean all the buildings (depending on the season), and must attend "5:30's" every day. What is a "5:30," you ask? It is when a student is required to be inside the gymnasium at 5:30 in the morning in order to conduct a workout. These include suicides (the type of running, not the taking of one's own life), laps, pushups, situps, wall-sits, and basically every form of physical work you can think of. I have been on "2-4" for weeks at a time because Hyde dean's THOUGHT that I had broken rules and still had them on my consciense, which I clearly did not. I am scared to use my real name on Amazon, my grade, what year I am in at Hyde, or even which campus I am at, because I would most likely be put on "2-4" for attitude and have to deal with multiple confrontations about something along the lines of a "rebel attitude."





I apologize because it seems that this is turning into a whole complaint and argument against Hyde, which is not my intention. This is not the place for that. However, I am just trying to portray some things regarding Hyde that you may not know of by just reading Joe Gauld's (whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, as well as his son, Malcom Gauld) book. I have lived this book for long enough to know what I am talking about.





Basically, my advice is to not look at this review and say "Hyde must be full of bs" because Hyde is far from it. Their views are great and their philosophy is great, but the way they teach it to their students is way too off. I suggest reading this book if you have children and carefully looking at all of the ideas and philosophies in the book. However, I suggest NOT teaching your children those ideas in the ways that may be described in the text, but rather using your own ways and seeing what works on your child, because no technique will work for everyone. Hyde's techniques have worked on a select few individuals in my school (I'd say around 7 out of over 200), and I have seen more negative results than positive results."

I agree with you when you say that some of the Hyde principles are good but the way the school implements them is so far off base.  When I was at Hyde I witnessed many incidents where students were put on 2-4 for days at a time and given 5:30's when the staff should have realized that the kid was dealing with some major trauma or emotional problem.  I think that's Hyde's most serious problem.  They react to everything as if its an attitude problem.  I can hear Joe Gauld's voice as I write this.  The truth is that there are so many different reasons why kids have trouble at Hyde.  Calling everything an attitude problem is just plain wrong.  Many of the kids I knew at Hyde needed a different kind of school.  I can see that now."

When kids go on 2-4, what do they do about school?  Isn't there a law that kids have to go to school a certain many days a year?  Does this not apply to private schools?  Would be interesting to look this up.  Hyde might not legally be allowed to keep these kids out of class for as long as these kids are reporting.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-24 06:01:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-05-17 02:27:00, Anonymous wrote:


"

On 2006-05-10 18:31:00, Anonymous wrote:



"

On 2006-05-10 17:51:00, Anonymous wrote:




"

On 2006-05-10 17:26:00, Anonymous wrote:





"I did a search on hyde:











zero results











Maybe there search engine sucks











Sue"

You didn't look closely enough.  Hyde is in there."

Here's more information about Hyde from the Internet (book review at Amazon):







 More to Hyde than what is written..., April 5, 2005



Reviewer:   Hyde Student (Hyde School) - See all my reviews



I am a current student at the Hyde School. I saw this book on amazon.com and immediately thought that I should post a comment on what I felt and truths behind the philosophy and how it is taught.







I recall hearing a statement that someone believes Hyde is viewed by many as something along the lines of a cult. It is true; many students have used that metaphor many times, including me. They believe that they are always right, and there is no way around it. Their philosophy is great; the views and things they try to teach the students are dead-on and I barely have any complaints about them. HOWEVER, they go about teaching them the wrong way. Example: There is a prinipal at Hyde that they call "Brother's Keeper," which is defined as holding eachother to their best. This idea is a great idea and should be practiced, however students should not be penalized and given severe consequences for such petty incidents such as being with someone who is wearing a hat inside a building. They go about dealing with students using profanity by making them do pushups rather than actually seeing the reason behind the profanity and seeing if there was, infact, true justification for it's use.







Example of a severe consequence? "2-4." I believe it stands for 24 hours in a day, in which a student is put on "2-4" for an indefinite period of time. While on "2-4," a student is not permitted to talk to anyone else in the school except for faculty, not allowed to eat hot food on the lunch line (bagels, salads, etc. are allowed), rake leaves/shovel snow/clean all the buildings (depending on the season), and must attend "5:30's" every day. What is a "5:30," you ask? It is when a student is required to be inside the gymnasium at 5:30 in the morning in order to conduct a workout. These include suicides (the type of running, not the taking of one's own life), laps, pushups, situps, wall-sits, and basically every form of physical work you can think of. I have been on "2-4" for weeks at a time because Hyde dean's THOUGHT that I had broken rules and still had them on my consciense, which I clearly did not. I am scared to use my real name on Amazon, my grade, what year I am in at Hyde, or even which campus I am at, because I would most likely be put on "2-4" for attitude and have to deal with multiple confrontations about something along the lines of a "rebel attitude."







I apologize because it seems that this is turning into a whole complaint and argument against Hyde, which is not my intention. This is not the place for that. However, I am just trying to portray some things regarding Hyde that you may not know of by just reading Joe Gauld's (whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, as well as his son, Malcom Gauld) book. I have lived this book for long enough to know what I am talking about.







Basically, my advice is to not look at this review and say "Hyde must be full of bs" because Hyde is far from it. Their views are great and their philosophy is great, but the way they teach it to their students is way too off. I suggest reading this book if you have children and carefully looking at all of the ideas and philosophies in the book. However, I suggest NOT teaching your children those ideas in the ways that may be described in the text, but rather using your own ways and seeing what works on your child, because no technique will work for everyone. Hyde's techniques have worked on a select few individuals in my school (I'd say around 7 out of over 200), and I have seen more negative results than positive results."

I agree with you when you say that some of the Hyde principles are good but the way the school implements them is so far off base.  When I was at Hyde I witnessed many incidents where students were put on 2-4 for days at a time and given 5:30's when the staff should have realized that the kid was dealing with some major trauma or emotional problem.  I think that's Hyde's most serious problem.  They react to everything as if its an attitude problem.  I can hear Joe Gauld's voice as I write this.  The truth is that there are so many different reasons why kids have trouble at Hyde.  Calling everything an attitude problem is just plain wrong.  Many of the kids I knew at Hyde needed a different kind of school.  I can see that now."

When kids go on 2-4, what do they do about school?  Isn't there a law that kids have to go to school a certain many days a year?  Does this not apply to private schools?  Would be interesting to look this up.  Hyde might not legally be allowed to keep these kids out of class for as long as these kids are reporting."

My experience at Hyde is that academics often take  a back seat (in fact, sometimes they're in the car's trunk).  Kids who struggle there and are on 2-4 a lot can miss lots of classes, assignments, etc.  The school tends to focus on the attitude issues primarily.  I like emphasizing attitude issues.  But, sadly, I have found Hyde's approach to be very naive and, for many students, very ineffective.  The combination of below average academics and a very unimpressive way of dealing with the large numbers of struggling students (emotional, behavioral, academic) has convinced me that Hyde is a very poor choice for any student who needs strong supports, nurturing yet firm staff, constructive limits, and high quality education.  We decided to leave Hyde because of the inferior quality of so much of what it has to offer.  Hyde seems to "work" for a very narrow slice of its student body whose challenges are pretty much limited to "attitude" and "defiance."

[Anonymous]

Well, yesterday was graduation day at the Woodstock campus of Hyde School.  I've never been more ashamed to be affiliated with a school.  The Hyde staff are full of upbeat rhetoric about the school's mission and character education.  They're good at displaying the smattering of Hyde success stories.

Those of us who have been affiliated with Hyde know better.  The speeches sound good, and occasionally some good things happen.  But underneath all the Hyde rhetoric is an enormous amount of pathology that the school manages to cover up.

Yesterday there were only about 30 graduates, only some of whom got the full Hyde degree and gave speeches.  Hyde proclaims that truth should prevail.  Will Hyde answer the following questions truthfully?

What percentage of kids who start Hyde actually finish?  By my count, a graduating class of about 30 (not all of whom completed the full Hyde program) means that many kids dropped out.

How many kids drop out of Hyde?  Why do they leave?

What percentage of Hyde graduates actually finish college?

How many Hyde students begin the school with serious histories of mental health and substance abuse problems?

What services does Hyde give these students to help them with their problems?

How many times has Hyde been sued?  What do the lawsuits claim happened at Hyde?

How many Hyde faculty have been disciplined or forced to leave the school because of misconduct?

Remember Hyde adminstrators: "When in doubt, bet on the truth."  What is the truth?

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-29 06:18:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Well, yesterday was graduation day at the Woodstock campus of Hyde School.  I've never been more ashamed to be affiliated with a school.  The Hyde staff are full of upbeat rhetoric about the school's mission and character education.  They're good at displaying the smattering of Hyde success stories.



Those of us who have been affiliated with Hyde know better.  The speeches sound good, and occasionally some good things happen.  But underneath all the Hyde rhetoric is an enormous amount of pathology that the school manages to cover up.



Yesterday there were only about 30 graduates, only some of whom got the full Hyde degree and gave speeches.  Hyde proclaims that truth should prevail.  Will Hyde answer the following questions truthfully?



What percentage of kids who start Hyde actually finish?  By my count, a graduating class of about 30 (not all of whom completed the full Hyde program) means that many kids dropped out.



How many kids drop out of Hyde?  Why do they leave?



What percentage of Hyde graduates actually finish college?



How many Hyde students begin the school with serious histories of mental health and substance abuse problems?



What services does Hyde give these students to help them with their problems?



How many times has Hyde been sued?  What do the lawsuits claim happened at Hyde?



How many Hyde faculty have been disciplined or forced to leave the school because of misconduct?



Remember Hyde adminstrators: "When in doubt, bet on the truth."  What is the truth?

"

Whoever wrote the above obviously has experienced Hyde's "pathetic" success rate to it's fullest!  Being a former parent I share in this individuals disgust for the hypocricy and lies which permeate every part of this so called school. My only regret that with all the lawsuits and with all the frustration that so many parents have gone through, that this institution continues to exist.  Hopefully one day enough people will have the courage speak out publicly like you and many other people have and put an end

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-29 06:18:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Well, yesterday was graduation day at the Woodstock campus of Hyde School.  I've never been more ashamed to be affiliated with a school.  The Hyde staff are full of upbeat rhetoric about the school's mission and character education.  They're good at displaying the smattering of Hyde success stories.



Those of us who have been affiliated with Hyde know better.  The speeches sound good, and occasionally some good things happen.  But underneath all the Hyde rhetoric is an enormous amount of pathology that the school manages to cover up.



Yesterday there were only about 30 graduates, only some of whom got the full Hyde degree and gave speeches.  Hyde proclaims that truth should prevail.  Will Hyde answer the following questions truthfully?



What percentage of kids who start Hyde actually finish?  By my count, a graduating class of about 30 (not all of whom completed the full Hyde program) means that many kids dropped out.



How many kids drop out of Hyde?  Why do they leave?



What percentage of Hyde graduates actually finish college?



How many Hyde students begin the school with serious histories of mental health and substance abuse problems?



What services does Hyde give these students to help them with their problems?



How many times has Hyde been sued?  What do the lawsuits claim happened at Hyde?



How many Hyde faculty have been disciplined or forced to leave the school because of misconduct?



Remember Hyde adminstrators: "When in doubt, bet on the truth."  What is the truth?

"

Whoever wrote the above obviously has experienced Hyde's "pathetic" success rate to it's fullest!  Being a former parent I share in this individuals disgust for the hypocricy and lies which permeate every part of this so called school. My only regret that with all the lawsuits and with all the frustration that so many parents have gone through, that this institution continues to exist.  Hopefully one day enough people will have the courage to speak out publicly like you and many other people have, and put an end to this exploitive so called educational institution

[Anonymous]

Laura Gauld, from the Bath campus, has been appointed the new head of Hyde/Woodstock. As the parent of a student at Bath, I have seen her in action many times. She will be superb.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-30 05:41:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Laura Gauld, from the Bath campus, has been appointed the new head of Hyde/Woodstock. As the parent of a student at Bath, I have seen her in action many times. She will be superb."

Laura Gauld may be very competent.  However, key components of the Hyde model are fundamentally flawed.  For me to refer to Hyde any of the parents who approach me, in their efforts to find the right school for their child, I'd need to see evidence of a significant overhaul in the school's ways of treating students and parents, qualifications and training of faculty, the school's ability to screen out students whose mental health and substance abuse issues aren't likely to be addressed at Hyde, the quality of the classroom experience, etc.  Anyone who knows boarding schools knows there's a huge difference between the competence of a headmaster and the overall quality of a school's philosophy, staff, education, and so on.  I wish Laura Gauld well.  The mere fact that she's at the helm doesn't convince me that I should refer anyone to Hyde.  Perhaps the Hyde culture will change with her at the helm; I have my doubts that she can change the very disturbing aspects of the Hyde School culture.

[Anonymous]

Laura Gauld might be very good, but in order to have the school run properly they need a full time on campus Headmaster.  This will not be the case with Laura.  Why is it that Hyde School and the Gauld's do not want to let someone other than a family member run the school?  Why are they jeopardizing the quality of the school by having a part time Headmaster rather than promoting someone else from within.  Could it be that there is no one qualified?

[Anonymous]

What are you talking about...She's moving to Woodstock and visiting Bath one weekend a month.  That is not Part Time.  Malcolm will be living in Woodstock oart time, that's all.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-05-30 18:19:00, Anonymous wrote:

"What are you talking about...She's moving to Woodstock and visiting Bath one weekend a month.  That is not Part Time.  Malcolm will be living in Woodstock oart time, that's all."

Where did you get this info from?  According to the school she is commuting every weekend.  Did something change?

[Anonymous]

Laura is the best thing about Hyde School, but that doesn't change a flawed system that is bigger than she is by far.