BATH – The Hyde School, a 40-year-old private school that focuses on character development, is quietly expanding its influence as it reaches out to students who cannot afford the $35,000-a-year tuition at its two boarding schools in New England.

Hyde played a role in getting the Hyde Leadership Public Charter School started in Washington, D.C. That school opened in 1999 and enrolls more than 800 students in kindergarten through grade 12.

Another school in Oakland, Calif., is in the process of converting to the Hyde model. And in the last two months, Hyde officials have received

permission to open public charter schools in New York City and Prince George’s County, Md.

“We’ve been a little stealthlike,” said Malcolm W. Gauld, Hyde’s president. “We’ve been so busy starting these schools that we don’t always get the word out.”

The Hyde School was founded in Bath in 1966 by Gauld’s father, 78-year-old Joseph W. Gauld. He selected five words to serve as the school’s guide. “Courage, integrity, leadership, curiosity and concern,” still adorn the school shield.

Joseph Gauld’s guiding principles were that every human has a unique potential and that every attempt should be

made to foster each student’s character.

Dana Wappler, an 18-year-old senior from Freeport, said the Hyde School’s focus on character development has changed his life.

“This school has helped instill a sense of responsibility in me,” Wappler said. “But character development has been the big draw. If your character comes first, everything else flows from that.”

The Hyde School’s sphere of influence has been growing. A second private boarding school in Woodstock, Conn., opened in 1993.

Over the years, the boarding school has attracted the children of Cher, Paul Newman, Barbara Walters and basketball great Julius Irving.

But Hyde officials decided their approach shouldn’t be limited to those who can afford tuition. So they started

talking about adapting their philosophy to a public school setting.

That thinking coincided with the growing popularity of the charter school movement in the 1990s. Public charter schools

are tuition-free nonprofits, where parents and educators may try new approaches to education.

In 1999, Hyde established the Hyde Leadership Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. Joanne Goubourn, who

heads the school, is a 1975 graduate of Hyde School in Bath. The 810 students do not pay tuition.

The mother of a graduate of that program is trying to establish another Hyde-inspired school near Landover, Md. The Connecticut parent of another Hyde alumnus has played a role in securing approvals for a school in New York City.

Joseph Gauld said his vision includes securing approvals for at least three more public charter schools in addition to those projects already under way.

Hyde trains staff and students and brings students from its other schools to visit the Bath campus. The elder Gauld visits the other campuses. “We control the Hyde brand name. If we are not satisfied, we can require the school to withdraw the name,” he said.

Judith Jones, executive director of the Maine Association of Charter Schools in Hope, has been impressed with Hyde’s success.

“They are clearly making it work. The parents and the kids keep coming back. If you don’t do well as a charter school, then you go out of business,” said Jones. “Hyde has been truly extraordinary, in that they have been able to adapt their concept to fit the needs of minority children.”