Principals

The original Lanier Middle School, named for Georgia poet Syndey Lanier, opened its doors for the first time in the fall of 1973 on a 20-acre tract of land in northern Gwinnett County. This first year, under the leadership of principal Mr. Garland Shumake, there were only 600 students with Twenty-five full-time certified teachers employed to teach the sixth and seventh graders from Harmony, Sugar Hill, and Suwanee elementary schools and the eighth graders from North Gwinnett High School.

The spring of 1977 brought the addition of three more “quads” or 12 classrooms to Lanier’s main building. The Cougar, and blue and gold, remained Lanier’s mascot and colors until students voted to adopt North Gwinnett High School’s mascot and colors (bulldog and the colors of red, black, and white) during the 1997–98 school year. Northern Gwinnett County experienced tremendous residential growth through the 1980s and 1990s. As a result, a third building program in 1991–92 added a new wing of classrooms perpendicular to the original building and added 21 more classrooms, including four science lab rooms, and additional office space. The original cafeteria also was expanded to accommodate the school’s increasing enrollment.

Due to the continued growth of the Lanier Cluster portable classrooms were used to accommodate the growing number of students. Up to 50 portables were used until January 2000 when a fourth addition, a two-story classroom building, added 35 additional classrooms, three additional computer labs, a larger band room, and a second gymnasium. The school’s cafeteria also received a third enlargement. During this period, the Board of Education acquired additional land to expand the PE field and faculty and staff parking. Additionally, two new elementary schools, Riverside and Sycamore, were built in the area during these years to accommodate the growing community. Students from these schools attended Lanier. By 2003–04, Lanier’s enrollment had grown to 2,910 students, nearly 1,000 students over its capacity. Sixty portable classrooms were utilized to house classes.

A new middle school, Glenn C. Jones Middle, opened in August 2004 to relieve Lanier and with the opening of Jones Middle, that school and Harmony Elementary left the North Gwinnett Cluster to join the Mill Creek Cluster. At the same time, Hull Middle School in Duluth relieved Lanier of students living south of McGinnis Ferry Road. Mr. Jaime Espinosa began his tenure as principal at Lanier in 2004–05, succeeding Dr. Holland, who had accepted the principal post at the new Jones Middle.      Even with this relief, Lanier soon was once again over-capacity. The school was relieved by the construction of two new middle schools— a replacement for Lanier Middle and the new North Gwinnett Middle.      Mr. Espinosa led the school through this growth and a big move, as the school relocated to its new facility in August of 2008. At that time, more than 2,700 students and almost 200 teachers occupied both the present middle school facility and what is now White Oak Elementary School. (Sixth graders were housed in what is now the elementary school and seventh and eighth graders were in the new middle school.) The following year, North Gwinnett Middle opened and Lanier Middle went through another redistricting process to provide relief to its burgeoning student enrollment. In August of 2009, Lanier Middle joined the Lanier Cluster, adopting a new mascot and colors— the Lanier Middle School Longhorns.

In 2014, Todd Hamilton became the principal of the school. Under his leadership, the school continued its work to provide personalized instruction to students resulting in high achievement. Mr. Hamilton announced his retirement in February of 2018.

Even though change has been a constant, Lanier Middle School, under the leadership of our current principal Mr. Bryce Fulcher, a hallmark of the faculty and staff has always been to provide personalized instruction to students, resulting in high achievement. Lanier has also been fortunate to have always had the strong support and involvement of our families and community.