Schools
Staff and Administration
Paul J. Wallace, Bratenahl's Last School Superintendent
Paul J. Wallace was born on February 17, 1930 in Newburgh Heights, Ohio, to Carl and Anna Rochnowski Wallace. He received his undergraduate degree from Baldwin-Wallace College, a master’s degree from Case Western Reserve University, and completed doctoral studies at the University of Akron.
Wallace was a life-long educator, starting as a teacher in 1956, and then a guidance counselor for the Euclid City Schools. He moved on to become an assistance principal, principal, and, from 1968 to 1971, Superintendent of the Wickliffe City Schools. He was selected by the Bratenahl Board of Education as Superintendent in August 1972. At the time, he highlighted the smallness of Bratenahl’s schools as a selling point for him:
“It is a growth experience to work in a small school where you have a lot more interaction between the teachers and staff. This is something which a lot of schools strive for. Here we come close to making it a reality.”
As Superintendent, Wallace was one of the leaders of the effort to create a high school in Bratenahl. He worked with the community to find a location for the high school building and with consultants and educators to develop a curriculum that met Ohio’s educational standards. On September 3, 1975, Bratenahl High School opened at 11404 Lake Shore Boulevard.
At the same time, Wallace was actively involved in the community fight to save the independence of the Bratenahl school system and prevent its merger with the Cleveland School District. That fight ultimately proved unsuccessful. Paul Wallace became the last Superintendent of the Bratenahl school system when the assets of the two Bratenahl schools transferred to the Cleveland School District in September 1979.
Paul Wallace continued to serve as Principal of Bratenahl High School for two more years, moving on as a teacher and administrator at other Cleveland schools after Bratenahl High School permanently closed in June 1981. Wallace retired from the Cleveland Municipal School District in 1991.
Wallace was married for sixty years to Rosemary Caranci Wallace. A fifty-plus year resident of Wickliffe, Ohio, Paul J. Wallace died on July 31, 2019 at Geneva Shore Nursing Home, Geneva, Ohio.