Shaker Heights Schools history

A 1914 map shows Shaker Heights almost fully "platted" - divided into plots for sale - but few homes had been built.

Partly leveraging the path of the Nickel Plate Railroad (see NICKEL PLATE ROAD), which they purchased in 1916, “the Vans” constructed the SHAKER RAPID TRANSIT line to downtown Cleveland.

The community’s third mayor, WILLIAM J. VAN AKEN, served from 1917-50.

By 1924, however, the Board recognized that the building had become inadequate to accommodate all of the school-age children living in this fast-growing area of Shaker Heights.

By 1926, the building was completed, and on March 15 of that year the first children moved out of East View School and marched a few hundred feet into the new building, which was initially called Lee-Moreland School.

Until Ludlow Elementary was built in 1928, Boulevard School was the public elementary school for all the Square's children.

In the 1930's a cluster of civic buildings would be developed near Lee Road and Van Aken Boulevard: a city hall, police station and a library.

By 1931, when Shaker Hts. was incorporated as a city, the community’s population had increased 10-fold to 17,783.

By 1949 the population of Shaker Hts. reached 23,393.

Rd. and Chagrin Blvd. (built in 1953) has been broadly revamped and redubbed the Van Aken District.

In 1956, the Shaker Heights Board of Education hired him as the principal of Moreland Elementary School.

The Van Sweringen Co. ceased to operate as a real-estate firm in 1959 but continued to oversee the deed restrictions for several years, after which the authority was vested in the city.

He helped found the Moreland Community Association (MCA) in 1962 and he permitted the new organization to hold its meetings and functions at Moreland Elementary school.

In 1963 Shaker Hts. was reputed to be the wealthiest community in the country.

He served as school principal, as well as a trustee of the MCA and other community organizations, including the Shaker Historical Society, until his untimely death at age 46 in October 1969.

In 1986 the city launched Fund for the Future of Shaker Heights, a charitable organization for promoting integration in the city and its school district.

To remedy this problem, the Board of Education ultimately adopted a school reorganization plan that led to the closing of Moreland Elementary school in 1987, despite vigorous protests from the Moreland neighborhood.

In 1993, after a renovation process was completed, the former Moreland Elementary School became the new main branch of the Shaker Heights Public Library.

The lower photo, taken in 2013, shows that the building is gone.

Dawson, Virginia. “Moreland and the Development of the South Side of Shaker Heights.” (2017)