Hyde School was founded by Joe Gauld in 1966. Joe Gauld previously worked as an educator and has a degree in business and math. Hyde is marketed as a behavior modification program for teenagers with emotional or behavioral problems and caters to children between the ages of 14-18. Throughout its operation, Hyde School and its founder, Joe Gauld, have been the subject of allegations of racism and abuse. Most notably, many survivors have spoken up over social media about the conditions of the school. A tracking project by survivors found that over 150 former students of Hyde have died between the years of 1999-2021. Many of the deaths were attributed to suicides and substance-related complications. Throughout the years, allegations of emotional, physical, and psychological abuse have been alleged by Hyde survivors. Although they have catered to troubled kids for 55 years, they do not employ a single licensed psychologist or therapist. Instead of using evidence-based methods, Hyde School attempts to address the children’s problems through Gauld’s “character building” concept.

Gauld has often stepped into controversy by writing articles about his negative opinions about the BIPOC community. For example, in an article titled “Are Blacks And Whites Really Equal?,” Gauld states “I have worked deeply with the potential of 5000 kids to have confidence in what I have found: whites more developed in some intellectual areas, particularly academics; and blacks more developed in some physical and emotional areas, particularly in understanding people.” Despite the numerous problematic articles by Gauld, Hyde still hails him as the founder and hero of the Hyde philosophy on their website.  In 2021, Gauld was exposed for making derogatory comments about how a woman at his school could not be the victim of “legitimate rape” if she didn’t fight back. After retiring in his elder years, Gauld’s son, Malcolm Gauld, took over the management of the school.