Named after former mayor of Houston Bob Lanier, the school is located in Neartown and near Montrose and has both neighborhood non-magnet and Vanguard/IBMYP (of the International Baccalaureate) gifted/talented programs.

The school was originally going to be designated Abraham Lincoln School, but after criticism from veterans of the U.S. Civil War who fought for the Confederate States of America, the name was changed before opening to Sidney Lanier, a Confederate soldier who later became recognized as the "Poet of the Confederacy".

After hearing testimony about Woodhead's character, the Houston City Council decided to keep the previous street name.

Lanier was renovated during the 2008/2009 school year, with a new paint job, new interior signage, and new walkways to the new locations of the temporary buildings.

[7] Former teacher Jim Henley stated that Lanier was known as a creative artist and that he was not known as a Confederate soldier.

[8] Mike Tolson of the Houston Chronicle wrote that since Lanier had only a small number of works, he "is not studied much these days[...]and students who are not from his native Georgia are unlikely even to know his name.

"[9] Tolson argued that "For the majority-minority board, [Lanier] was low-hanging fruit, along with other men who actually served the Confederate cause in a more serious way and are not studied in classes on American poetry.

"[9] In May 2016 the HISD board voted to rename the school after Bob Lanier, former mayor of Houston.

[11] 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.

[14] Columnist John Nova Lomax argued against the renaming in Texas Monthly because Bob Lanier had a mixed political legacy.

[citation needed] Several areas of Houston inside the 610 Loop are zoned to Lanier,[16] including Afton Oaks,[17] River Oaks,[18] Boulevard Oaks,[19] Avalon Place,[citation needed] Southampton Place[19] (including Broadacres,[20]), Shadyside,[21] portions of the Neartown area west of Montrose Boulevard (including portions of Montrose west of Montrose Boulevard, Castle Court,[22] Cherryhurst and Cherryhurst Addition,[23][24] Lancaster Place, Mandell Place, Park, Richwood, Vermont Commons, and WAMM, as well as much of Hyde Park, and portions of North Montrose[22]), Weslayan Plaza, Oak Estates, Royden Oaks, Ranch Estates, Highland Village, Lynn Park, West Lane Place, Rice Village,[citation needed] and 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).

[25] Notable apartment and condominium complexes zoned to Lanier include 2727 Kirby,[26] The Driscoll at River Oaks,[27] The Huntingdon,[28] and Residences at La Colombe d'Or.

[29] For non-zoned students to attend Lanier, parents must submit Vanguard magnet application forms.

Lanier also has an auditorium with a wraparound balcony located in the center of the campus between the South and North Patios, the latter officially named the "Tom Hutch-Hutchings Memorial Gardens" in honor of a longtime Lanier World Cultural Studies teacher.

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.

Possibly at this point, for currently unknown reasons, many of the windowsills in the back side of the school were bricked up.

[citation needed] "The Pipe of Peace", a mural by the artist Grace Spaulding John, was originally located in the front of the school before being painted over.

[39] All Lanier students are required to wear school uniforms consisting of monogrammed LMS polo shirts in colors of red, black, or white monday thru thursday,[40] and late in the 2013 school year (around May) purple shirts were brought back.

The polo shirts purchased at the school and pairs of khaki bottoms (trousers, shorts, capris, or skirts).