Lanier Middle School (Houston)

infobox School
name= Lanier Middle School
type= Public School (US)
location= Houston, Texas, United States


imagesize= 200px
established= 1926
district= HISD - Central Region
grades= 6-8
age range= 11-14
newspaper= The Purple Page
principal= Bill Shell
students= 1,284 (2007-2008)
motto= Achevement with Honor
teams= The Mighty Pups
colors= Purple, White, and Red
mascot= The Purple Pups
free_label= TEA Rating
free_text= Recognized (2006-2007)
free_label2= Magnet
free_text2= Partial: Vanguard/IBMYP
free_label3= PTO
free_text3=

[http://www.lanierpto.org www.lanierpto.org]

website= [http://www.lanierms.uni.cc www.lanierms.uni.cc]

Sidney Lanier Middle School is a middle school located at 2600 Woodhead Street in Houston, Texas, United States, with a ZIP code of 77098. Lanier, a school of the Houston Independent School District, handles grades 6 through 8.

Lanier Middle School is located in Neartown and near Montrose and has both neighborhood non-magnet and Vanguard/IBMYP (of the International Baccalaureate) gifted/talented programs.

Lanier's speech and debate team has won six consecutive national titles (2003-2008) at the National Junior Forensic League Speech and Debate Championship. The debate coach is Franz Hill. Jim Henley, the former Lanier debate teacher, unsuccessfully ran for the United States Congress against John Culberson in 2006. Henley retired after the 2006-2007 school year. [ [http://www.henleyforcongress.com Jim Henley for Winning Schools | Vote for Winning Schools: Jim Henley ] ]

History

Lanier opened in 1926 as one of HISD's first junior high schools. This school was named for a well-known Southern poet, Sidney Lanier. In 1926, the Purple Pup was adopted as Lanier's mascot.

In 1935 students from Lanier created a petition to rename Woodhead Street, named after John Woodhead, to Higginbotham Street, after the principal, Blanch Higginbotham. According to the article "Historic Houston Streets: The Stories Behind the Name," students at other schools used "Wood head" as a derogatory label for Lanier students, implying that they lacked intelligence. After hearing a testimony about Woodhead's character, the Houston City Council decided to keep the previous street name. The students apologized to E. S. Woodhead, John Woodhead's brother and a Houstonian. [" [http://www.heritagesociety.org/Hinton-Names%20of%20Houston%20Streets%20071907.pdf Historic Houston Streets: The Stories Behind the Name] "]

In 1973, Lanier's Vanguard program was instated. Lanier received a rededication after renovations in 1982. [" [http://web.archive.org/web/20040818195339/ms.houstonisd.org/LanierMS/info/history/hyprhist.html A Hypertext History of Lanier] ." "Lanier Middle School".] In the early 1980s, Lanier was converted into a middle school. In 1998, Lanier's first floor flooded due to Tropical Storm Frances.Fact|date=May 2008 In 2001, Lanier was renovated, with the additions of a false ceiling and upgraded air conditioning.Fact|date=May 2008

Neighborhoods Served

Several areas of Houston inside the 610 Loop are zoned to Lanier" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/LanierMS.pdf Lanier Middle Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District"] , including Afton Oaks, River Oaks, Boulevard Oaks, Avalon Place, Southampton Place, Broad Acres, portions of the Neartown area west of Montrose Boulevard (including portions of Montrose west of Montrose Boulevard, Castle Court, Hyde Park, Richwood, Lancaster Place, and Cherryhurst [ [http://www.cherryhurst.org/ Cherryhurst Civic Association ] ] ), Weslayan Plaza, Oak Estates, Royden Oaks, Ranch Estates, Highland Village, Lynn Park, West Lane Place, Shadyside, Rice Village, most of Upper Kirby (areas of the district located west of Edloe and north of Westpark, residential areas located east of Edloe, west of Kirby, north of U.S. Route 59, and areas located east of Kirby). The Greenway Condominiums are also zoned to Lanier.

Campus

The campus consists of a three story main building and several temporary buildings. Lanier has an indoor pool located in the basement of the main building.

chool Uniform

All Lanier students are required to wear school uniforms consisting of monogrammed LMS polo shirts in colors of red, black, purple, or white purchased at the school and pairs of khaki bottoms (trousers, shorts, capris, or skirts) [" [http://ms.houstonisd.org/lanierms/info/uniforms.html Uniform and Apparel Policy] ." "Lanier Middle School".] . GSG leaders must wear maroon and green shirts. Students can also wear school club T-shirts during school on days in which they attend the club. This uniform was instituted at the start of the 1997-1998 school year.

The Texas Education Agency specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school with uniforms may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform [" [http://www.tea.state.tx.us/field/uniforms.html School Uniforms] ." "Texas Education Agency".] ; parents must specify "bona fide" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections.

tudent Body

During the 2006-2007 school year, Lanier had 1,328 students [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/profiles/Lanier_MS.pdf Lanier Middle School] " Profile. "Houston Independent School District".] .
* 44% were White
* 31% were Hispanic
* 13% were African-American
* 11% were Asian
* Less than 1% were Native American

30% qualified for free or reduced lunch.

Feeder Patterns

Zoned schools

Elementary schools that feed into Lanier include:
*River Oaks [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/RiverOaksES.pdf River Oaks Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Poe (partial) [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/PoeES.pdf Poe Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Roberts (partial) [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/RobertsES.pdf Roberts Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*St. George Place (partial) [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/SchoolBoundaryMaps/stgeorgeES.pdf St. George Place Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]
*Wilson (partial) [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/WilsonES.pdf Wilson Elementary Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."]

All students who are zoned to Lanier are zoned to Lamar High School [" [http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/LamarHS.pdf Lamar High School Attendance Zone] ." "Houston Independent School District."] .

Magnet schools

Some Houston-area pupils who attend other schools not in the Lanier feeder pattern (such as West University Elementary School) and/or reside outside of the Lanier attendance boundary choose to go to Lanier.

Some students in the Vanguard program at Lanier apply to gifted and talented and advanced academic programs at other schools such as Bellaire High School [" [http://www.bellaire.org/incominginformation.php 2007-2008 Information for 8th Graders] ." "Bellaire High School".] , HSPVA, Lamar High School, St. Agnes Academy, and Carnegie Vanguard High School.

Location

Lanier is located west of Houston's Neartown neighborhood. Lanier is nearby single family houses and small shops. A convenience store, a hardware store, and a few restaurants are near Lanier Middle School.

The Upper Kirby district, which is near Lanier, plans to establish a "teen center" at Richmond at Wake Forest geared toward students at Lanier, St. John's, Lamar, and other Upper Kirby schools and schools near Upper Kirby. Funding issues have delayed establishment of the center. [" [http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2006_4159600 Upper Kirby plans flood relief / While residents hope for other projects, funds remain scarce] ." "Houston Chronicle".]

Admissions Policy

Students zoned to Lanier automatically are eligible to attend the school, and are automatically able to attend the Vanguard program if they qualify.

For non-zoned students to attend Lanier, parents must submit Vanguard magnet application forms. [" [http://www.houstonisd.org/portal/site/MagnetEnglish/menuitem.03934f85d248509aa4faf0a5e041f76a Magnet English Home] ." "Houston Independent School District".]

Notable Alumni

*Walter Cronkite (Journalist)" [http://www.lanierpto.org/index.php/news/main/25/event=view Purple Page, November 11, 2005] ." "Lanier Middle School PTO".] [" [http://web.archive.org/web/20041026214031/ms.houstonisd.org/LanierMS/info/history/hyprhist.html A Hypertext History of Lanier] ." "Lanier Middle School"]
*Denton Cooley (Surgeon) [ [http://www.edunet.ie/links/usmiddle.html United States Middle Schools] ]
*John Culberson (Congressman) [" [http://web.archive.org/web/20060329055851/http://www.culberson.house.gov/bio.aspx Biography] ," "U.S. Congressman John Culberson, 7th District of Texas"] " [http://www.houstonisd.org/HISDConnectDS/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=c3783acb02efc010VgnVCM10000052147fa6RCRD Distinguished HISD Alumni] ," "Houston Independent School District"]
*George Ducas (Singer)Mitchell, Rick. " [http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1994_1229284 On the brink of stardom: There's another George on country's horizon] ." "Houston Chronicle". September 30, 1994.]
*Linda Ellerbee (Journalist)
*Emeka Okafor (Basketball player)

References

External links

* [http://www.lanierms.uni.cc/ Lanier Middle School Homepage]
* [http://www.lanierpto.org/ Lanier Middle School PTO]