Bob Lanier Middle School

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 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.

Lanier's first floor flooded in 1998 due to Tropical Storm Frances. In the early 2000s (decade), to reduce echoing in the classrooms and to allow easier installation of network hardware, a false ceiling was installed in almost all classrooms and hallways. Sometime after 2001, televisions that were in every classroom were removed.

In April 2016 a group of parents asked HISD board member Jolanda Jones to apologize to students who opposed the name change after she accused them of bullying other students in favor of the name change during a board meeting. Dolcefino investigated the issue and found no evidence of bullying. Jones refused to apologize despite her claims being totally discredited. Jones will run for re-election in 2019.

In the 1995-1996 school year, 82% of black students and 70% of Hispanic students at Lanier passed state tests. 98% of White students had passed the same tests. Tom Monaghan, the principal, said "If you looked at the big picture, we looked pretty good. But we said, 'That's not good enough. We have to look at the zoned kids.

The school added an extra teacher for mathematics remediation for 8th graders, established new instructional strategies for language arts, added additional mathematics instruction for 7th graders in need of help in mathematics content, and created after-school reading and writing groups for Latino students. In the 2000-2001 school year, after the measures were taken, 89% of black students and 86% of Hispanic students passed state tests.

Lanier's campus has been expanded numerous times since it was first built. The most notable expansion was the addition of the area of the building housing the cafeteria and gymnasium. This expansion has resulted in some quirks in the building that are still visible today, most notably a door leading to stairs to the basement that is only half-exposed above the floor of the hallway. These stairs are no longer in service, though the door can be opened even though it's blocked by the hallway floor. Students aren't allowed to open the door and/or go down those stairs. Prior to this expansion, the cafeteria was located where the library is today, on the third floor. A dumbwaiter, located where the elevator is today, carried food to the cafeteria.

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.

During the 2018-2019 school year, the school enacted a controversial dress policy, requiring girls to wear leggings under their skirts. Many students filed a petition against this rule, "The new addition to Lanier Middle School dress code is sexist and unfair."The administration then adjusted the dress code requiring girls to only wear bike shorts, instead of leggings.

Classes and after school Activities: Speech and Debate, Drama, Art/Media Kids, robotics, chess club, Model United Nations, photography, Fiction Club, Geography Club, NJHS, Band, Cheerleading, Dance, Breakdance, Name that Book, Ladies of Lanier, Student Council, Orchestra, Yearbook, MathCOUNTS

Lanier's debate team have won 9 consecutive national championships and are very successful team led by Franz Hill. The Lanier Band has won the Texas regional band competition back to back and is led by Leo Hernandez and the Lanier drama team has won multiple competitions in the last three years. Although not a fine arts magnet like Johnston Middle School, Lanier has repeatedly placed higher in competitions, and although the band program has over two hundred students, the band is directed by only one person, who manages the band very well. The Lanier band is considered the best HISD Middle School band.