In 1904, Harvey Rice Elementary School opened its doors at East 116th Street and Buckeye Road.  In 1912, it became one of the largest elementary schools in Cleveland serving 1,000 students from Cleveland, Newburg City, and two Shaker neighborhoods.

 

In 2007, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District demolished the 103-year-old building to provide the community with a new state-of-the-art structure. In 2009, Harvey Rice Elementary School reopened at East 116th Street and Shaker Boulevard. This $16 million building sits on the five-acre Harvey Rice Learning Campus across the parking lot from the Rice Library and adjacent to the Saint Luke's Manor, a local landmark. The Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Cleveland Public Library, Saint Luke's Foundation, the Cleveland Foundation, Neighborhood Progress, Inc., ParkWorks, and the Cleveland Public Art collaborated to complete this beautiful campus that serves the residents of Cleveland's historic Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood.

 

Both the library and school bear the name of Harvey Rice who served as an educator, lawyer, state legislator, and newspaper editor. Rice worked as a teacher in Cleveland for two years. As an Ohio senator, Rice introduced and passed legislation that reorganized our public school system and established a public library system. As an editor, Rice and others started a newspaper that later became The Plain Dealer.