As the new elementary school nears completion, it is time to remember and honor its namesake: Florence Roche, a pioneer educator before her time.
Roche was born in Groton in 1896, the daughter of Edward A. and Eliza (MacFayden Roache (spelled with an “a” at the time). In the 1890s, career choices for women were still quite limited – more so for women who did not come from a background of wealth. Even in the field of education, where women had more opportunities, only a select few with the right connections had ever become school principal. Florence Roche would quietly shatter that glass ceiling. But early on, it did not seem like she could. Her father, Edward, was the son of Irish immigrants and barely scraped by working as a painter. At the same time, her mother, Elizabeth, had immigrated from Nova Scotia in 1875, fleeing poverty in search of a better life. Florence and her two older siblings – Edward Jr. and Phyllis – grew up on the lower rungs of Groton’s socioeconomic ladder. The Roaches went largely unnoticed in a town dominated by the Lawrences and other families of great wealth.
At the same time, they found a home and a community here. After living on Hollis Street for several years in 1911, the family began renting a house that would be Florence’s home for most of her life – the oldest house in town, the Willard Garrison House at 153 Main Street. But she was already dreaming of what she wanted to do with her life. While attending the public schools in Groton full-time, she also began working part-time as a clerk in a local store, where Salt & Light is now, at age 15. By doing so, she saved up the money to enter Leslie Normal School, a college training teachers then associated with Harvard University – and one of the most selective in the state. Florence’s admission and success there show her courage and drive.
Florence Roche
Upon graduating in 1917, she got her first job as a part-time teacher at the Groton Public Schools. After six months in this temporary role, in September 1917, she was appointed to her first permanent teaching position by the Groton School Committee (before the days of a superintendent). She worked in the Boutwell School (now the preschool), completed in 1914 as the town’s first central, purpose-built elementary school. It was later written that “she ‘put every ounce of her soul and strength’ into her work. Her staff highly respected her and seemed ‘intuitive’ in her dealings with children. Those under her tutelage performed as well as they could [and] ... her influence could be seen in the number of her students who became teachers themselves.” What better compliment could be accorded an educator?
Even while devoting herself to teaching, Roche continued to learn and grow, taking courses at Boston University in her spare time in the 1920s. But Roche, who dropped the “a” from her last name around the 1930s, did not stop there. As the country grappled with the Great Depression, she was appointed Teaching Principal of the Boutwell School. At the time, most schools were not large enough to have a principal who wasn’t also a teacher, and so the roles were combined, as they were for Roche. This position seemed to suit her perfectly, as she strove to ensure that the students under her care would grow to build a better tomorrow – several of them served in World War II.
With the changing times after the war, the town built a new elementary school to cater to the growing population. The school – part of the Florence Roche School, now being replaced – was completed in 1951, and all the students housed at Boutwell School moved there. Roche, too, moved to the new Groton Elementary School, as it was called at the time. However, the ‘Teaching Principal’ position was being phased out; instead, Roche became the first principal of the new school – one of the first women in the state to assume such a role. With unwavering dedication, she continued in that role until retiring with three friends, also long-time teachers, in July 1963. She had worked in the Groton schools for 46 years, longer than anyone else
A dinner, attended by over 300, was held in Roche’s honor at the time of her retirement; School Committee member Ellen Hargraves reflected, “She dedicated her entire adult life to the students of Groton.” Roche continued to live in Groton until passing in 1979 at age 83. She devoted her retirement to volunteering with the Union Congregational Church and the National Retired Teachers Association. She never married and had no surviving close relatives at the end of her life – but she never lost touch with the schools, her colleagues, and many of her former students. Education is her legacy.
Not long after Roche passed away, talk about honoring her arose with the School Committee. While there was initially some disagreement, it soon became clear that the school of which she was the first principal should bear her name; the subcommittee appointed to look into it believed that it would “honor the memory of a dedicated teacher and a gracious lady,” while subcommittee member Isabel Beal opined that Roche was synonymous with education in Groton and colleague Marshall Britt exclaimed, “I’m thrilled to death that somebody was smart enough to think of it; there can’t be a better choice.”
The School Committee voted unanimously to name the Groton Elementary School after Florence Roche on November 14, 1979, and the school was formally rededicated in 1980. No more appropriate honor could be found, and it is an honor that should be repeated with the opening of the new school. It can only be hoped that other community buildings that do not have names – such as the Middle School, (Senior) Center, and High School – will eventually be distinguished with the names of other local luminaries and that Roche’s name will continue to grace the elementary school of the town to which she dedicated her life for generations to come.
Published in the Groton Herald, November 3, 2023, by Joshua Vollmar.