Gwenn Roche

BLOOMINGTON — Gwenn Roche, principal of Corpus Christi School since 2013, has announced that she will be leaving at the end of the year so her husband, Patrick, can accept a job in the Columbia, Missouri, area.

The move will take them closer to their daughters, grandchildren and extended family in Kansas City, Missouri, but it won’t be easy to leave the “wonderful community” that Corpus Christi is, according to the longtime educator.

“This last week has been bittersweet,” Roche said. “While I’m very excited about this opportunity for our family — it’s a wonderful blessing, we’ve been praying for this for a long time — it is quite evident that leaving here is very hard to do.”

During her tenure, the school changed its name from Holy Trinity to Corpus Christi to make it more inclusive. “No matter where you come from, we’re all part of the body of Christ,” Roche said.

The rebranding in 2015 was a challenge, but very rewarding, she told The Catholic Post, and helped to rejuvenate the school programs and community. At the same time, they started to work on a five-year strategic plan for Corpus Christi that was led by the Office of Catholic Schools.

“Everything here is a team effort, so it was a wonderful opportunity to help people use their talents and gifts in a way that maybe they had not done before,” Roche said.

The most recent celebration for the Corpus Christi community came this fall when the new junior high school wing was blessed and welcomed students, making it the first time the entire student body was located on one campus. Previously, the junior high students attended classes in a building across town.

“It’s a wonderful community,” Roche said. “They’re very supportive and they will continue to do well. They will continue to work together to do what they need to do.”

She added that she has no doubt that as God has blessed her family, he will also take care of Corpus Christi.

Roche has worked in Catholic education for 21 years, starting as a teacher at schools of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri. In the Diocese of Peoria, she taught at Holy Cross School in Champaign from 2007 to 2009, and was principal at St. Thomas School in Philo from 2009 to 2013.