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Open in new tab Attention Parents of 8th Grade Pups!
A celebration of all of the accomplishments and
friendships created at Lanier Middle School, which
include:
Great 8 Semi-Formal Dance
Class Field Trip
Class T-Shirt
Great 8 Breakfast
Class Panoramic Picture
Promotion Awards & Ceremony
Dues are $88
UPDATED PTO Calendar
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS
Lanier PTO Executive Board 2021-2022
The 2021-2022 Lanier PTO Executive Board was elected at the general meeting on May 27, 2021. Thank you to all who served last school year and thank you to the new board! We are looking forward to a great year.
The 2021-2022 Lanier PTO Executive Board is as follows:
President: Wendy Montoya Cloonan
President Elect: Heather Petersen
VP Fundraising: Stephanie Kusinski
VP Volunteers: Dawn Miller
VP Social and Community Service: Chiarra Stratton
VP of Communications: Rebekah Maddux El-Hakam
VP of Financial Support: Jessy Morgenroth
Treasurer: Cheryl Fullmer
Secretary: Shannon Witz
HISD Liaison: Kristin Collins
Parliamentarian: Mary Denila-Lee
Lanier PTO Committees
Lanier PTO Committees
Please read below for other opportunities to join with us in serving the students, teachers, and staff of Lanier Middle School! If interested in volunteering, email us and let us know.
Please continue to reach out to us to express your interest in serving Lanier during this school year. For your reference Committee descriptions are below:
Lanier PTO Committee Descriptions
Audit Committee
Position responsibilities: Works with the VP Financial Support to conduct an audit of the prior year’s finances to ensure adherence to PTO by-laws and 501.3C accounting best practices.
Commitment to Excellence
Position responsibilities: Solicit and record contributions to our capital campaign. Order incentives (pavers, plaques, etc.) and oversee their installation. Works with VP Fundraising.
Great 8 (Chairs + Committees)
Position responsibilities: Determines events and programs that will be offered for our 8th graders in their final year at Lanier. Solicits approval and scheduling from LMS administration for the events. Establishes the budget for the events, sets dues, amount to be collected from all 8th grade students, collects funds and monitors and maintains the program budget. Events to be coordinated may include an 8th grade dance, grade-level outing, panoramic class photo, selection and procurement of a class gift, and provision of material (e.g. videos, photos) for a graduation assembly. Great 8 co-chairs may work with additional committee members to determine how to divide up the work. Works with VP Social Events.
Lanier Gear/Uniforms Chairs
Position responsibilities: Work with co-chair, manage the volunteer schedule and inventory/orders for the school store, where students and families buy Lanier uniforms, hoodies, t-shirts and spirit items. Works with VP Financial Support.
Business Development Program
Position responsibilities: Work with local or national vendors who would like to partner with Lanier through incentives. Works with VP Fundraising.
Party With a Purpose (One or two Chairs, many sub-committees)
Position responsibilities: Chair Lanier’s annual fundraiser, hosted at a Lanier family’s home or community venue in the late winter/early spring. Sub-committee members help with publicity, decorations, and soliciting donations. Works with VP Fundraising.
Parent-Teacher Social
Position responsibilities: Arrange, publicize and oversee the fall event that brings teachers and parents together for a fun and informal gathering. Works with VP Social Events.
Purple Page
Position responsibilities: Collect, edit, format, and publish approved articles for our weekly e-newsletter. Typically requires 4-8 hours of commitment per week. Works with VP Communications.
Sponsorships and Donations
Position responsibilities: Work with corporations, local businesses, and charitable foundations to solicit donations, services, grants and in-kind gifts to the PTO and school. Works with VP Fundraising.
Teacher Appreciation
Position responsibilities: Arrange for catered and donated foods and parent volunteer servers for a monthly lunch for the Lanier staff, served in the Teachers’ Lounge. Works with VP Social Events.
Webmaster
Position responsibilities: Maintain the Lanier PTO website and the credit card order pages as needs and events require. May also share responsibilities for Lanier PTO social media accounts. Works with VP Communications.
PTO Bylaws and Standing Rules located here.
Recording of Parent and Student Meeting
Recording of Lanier Virtual Student and Parent Meeting
Watch this recording of Lanier Principal Dave Wheat sharing important information about Lanier’s distance learning program that launched this morning, Tuesday, March 31st, at 8:30 am.
*Please be advised that you must be using a computer or device that has your child’s Microsoft Teams’ account downloaded on it in order to view this recording.
View the recording of the Parent Meeting here.
If your student hasn’t configured Microsoft Teams on a device yet, read Mr. Wheat’s message, How to Download Microsoft Teams, before watching the recording.
How to Download Microsoft Teams
How to Download Microsoft Teams
It is imperative for all students to download Microsoft Teams on one or all of the desktops, laptops, devices, and cell phones at their disposal. Microsoft Teams is THE platform that will allow students to participate in the Lanier Distance Learning initiative for as long as we are in a virtual environment. Without Microsoft Teams, students will not be able to attend classes, talk with their teachers, or visit with classmates. The Lanier Middle School administrative team will provide technology equipment to those students who don’t have access to it at home.
Read Mr. Wheat’s full message and instructions here.
Distance Learning Launch
Distance Learning Launch
Purple Pup Parents,
Please read this important letter and schedule from me with detailed information and expectations with regard to the impending Distance Learning launch for all Lanier Middle school students on March 31, 2020.
Sincerely,
Dave D. Wheat, Principal
Lanier Middle School
Message from Mr. Wheat: Community Update #1
The new challenge of the Coronavirus has brought us into uncharted territory. But as we have done in the past, we will stand strong together. Ensuring Lanier Middle School continues to operate smoothly, in particular supporting our students’ learning and meeting their social and emotional needs, is at the forefront of our decision-making. With that in mind, beginning Monday, March 23, all Lanier staff will be available during their normally scheduled work hours for such items as virtual meetings, planning sessions, student support, and phone check-ins.
Read the complete Community Update #1 here.
Thank you for your donation to the Commitment to Excellence Campaign
Huge thank you to all of the families who contributed to our Commitment to Excellence campaign! Nearly $67,000 was raised through the campaign. Thank you to our generous donors, listed below.
Commitment to Excellence (CTE) is Lanier Middle School PTO’s largest annual fundraiser.
New Lanier Principal
Welcome, Principal Dave Wheat
The Lanier community is delighted to welcome Mr. Dave Wheat, as the new principal of Lanier Middle School. Mr. Wheat transitioned to his role as principal of Lanier on June 3rd, 2019. He has worked in education for 30 years and throughout the district for over 21 years. We are thrilled to welcome Mr. Wheat to the Purple Pup family!
Dave Wheat served as the principal of The School at St. George Place from May of 2014-May of 2019. He began his career in education as an English teacher in the Deer Park Independent School District. In HISD, Mr. Wheat taught at Sharpstown Middle School and served as an assistant principal at both Westside High School and Hamilton Middle School before being named principal of Johnston (now Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts) Middle School in 2006.
Using a collaborative approach with students, teachers, parents, and the community, Mr. Wheat led Johnston to its first TEA Recognized rating in school history. The very next year, he led the Johnston school community to its first TEA Exemplary rating in school history. The crowning achievement for the Johnston school community under Dave’s leadership was being awarded the national Blue Ribbon Award in 2010, the most prestigious honor an American school can receive.
Mr. Wheat grew up in the Houston area and attended the Deer Park Independent School District, graduating from Deer Park High School. He completed both his undergraduate degree in English and his master’s degree in Administration and Supervision at the University of Houston.
Mr. Wheat believes that the International Baccalaureate approach to learning is the most rigorous and fun approach to learning available for all students, including gifted and talented students.
During his free time, Mr. Wheat enjoys taking his son fishing, jet skiing, swimming, and to the movies. Mr. Wheat is also an avid fan of the University of Houston Cougars and can be frequently be seen at football, basketball, and baseball games.
Click here to view the announcement from HISD.
Attention: Parents of 8th Graders
It’s time to get ready for Great 8! What is Great 8, you ask? Great 8 is the name for the end-of-year celebrations for Lanier Middle School’s 8th-grade class. These traditions are a special time for students to celebrate their time at Lanier. It includes an end-of-school 8th-grade dance, field trip, class t-shirt, class picture, and promotion ceremony. More info can be found HERE.
What you need to know:
Each student is asked to pay Great 8 dues of $88 to cover all expenses for these events. You can pay online at the link HERE or print out the form below and send payment to Lanier.
You can learn more and sign up to volunteer at a Great 8 Parents Meeting on Monday, January 28, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. in the Lanier Auditorium. If you’d like to chair one of the events, please email us HERE before January 28, 2019.
We hope you’ll help us plan a special end of the school year!
Thank You from Coach Stephen Cabell
Just wanted to send a quick thank the PTO and thank you for your financial assistance with the scoreboard repair. Both basketball teams were excited to have it working for their last home games of the season.
Thank you again for your help. We appreciate it.
Revised Master Schedule Plan
Happy New Year to each of you and your families. I hope you had a relaxing vacation filled with lots of family time and a chance to make some great memories.
This new year also marks the start of a new semester and with this new semester, a revised master schedule plan. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Cooper and the assistant principals for their many hours of hard work to make sure that each student has a schedule that will provide maximum support and interventions for academic success in the Spring semester.
Students will report to their “old” (first semester) GSG-Study Lab on Monday morning to receive their second semester schedule.
I look forward to working with you and the entire Lanier faculty and staff in this new year.
Warmest Regards,
Dr. Campos
Interim Principal
Lanier Middle School
Teacher and Staff Appreciation Volunteers
The Lanier PTO hosts luncheons, typically on the second Friday of each month for the teachers and staff of Lanier to recognize all that they do for our students. To learn more, donate and/or volunteer, please visit the online sign-up sheet:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0a4dada82ea57-lanier
NOTE: All Lanier volunteers must be registered through VIPS: www.houstonisd.org/vips. However, if you had an active VIPS account during the previous school year and had registered as a Lanier volunteer, just present an ID at the front desk or in Office B to be re-activated this year.
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