Virtual IDEO Celebration 2020

While the pandemic prevents us from honoring the IDEO tradition in the same way we have in the past, this reimagination of the ceremony is just as special and memorable for the Class of 2021. 

The entire HB community—students, faculty, parents, grandparents, alumnae, and friends—is invited to watch the virtual celebration of this very important annual tradition that signifies the beginning of winter break. 

About IDEO

IDEO (Latin meaning “for that purpose, for the reason”) is both the name of the annual HB ceremony and the colloquial term HB girls have given to the song Personent Hodie that accompanies our traditional procession.

The tradition began when Anne Cutter Coburn, who served as HB’s headmistress from 1938-1968, wanted to set a quieter, more reflective tone for the school’s students before they bid each other farewell after the fall term and headed out on winter break. As you might imagine, excited young women anxious for a break from school were a little rambunctious in previous years. So Miss Coburn instituted this tradition, which included asking the girls to process two by two through the halls of HB’s Classic Building to this tune.

Through the years, the tradition has evolved to include not only that ceremonial procession—which was the girls’ gift to the head of school—but several other tangible and symbolic gifts as well.