Lamar Middle School

Do not attend this school for music. The orchestra director is not skilled and places students with lots of experience with those that have little to no experience. My daughter was bored and asked to move, was faced with nothing but obstruction. I feel she was trying to stack the deck in her lower orchestra for UIL competition, so she did not want to move her. It was very upsetting. Principal is very unhelpful.

My son is currently a 7th grader in the orchestra strand of the Lamar FAA and having a stellar experience. Ms. Kizer, the orchestra director, is extremely talented but also caring, committed, and sensitive to the needs and abilities of each child. She also brings fresh energy and innovation to the orchestra program with her deep interest in fiddle music alongside her impeccable classical training (fiddle is even an orchestra elective!). Our other experiences at Lamar have been equally good - the academics are rigorous without requiring piles of homework. Pre-AP classes are available for all core academics and a geometry track is open to advanced students. The teachers are wonderfully enthusiastic and weave the arts into academic classes in multiple ways, such as tying in in-class performances to history lessons. And although the artistic strands are first rate, Lamar also offers a wide variety of fascinating electives that go far beyond the arts - students at Lamar can also major in engineering and computer science with multiple course offerings in each as part of the Project Lead the Way program. Japanese and Mandarin Chinese are offered in addition to French and Spanish, and there is even an advanced science program that includes classes in forensics. Lastly, Lamar is a friendly and safe place. Principal Llewelyn couldn't be more committed to providing an environment where every student is both inspired and valued, and he has developed several innovative programs to support discipline and cross-peer collaboration across the school - for all students, not just the arts majors. One example is the Friday clubs which are student designed and allow students to meet and "play" with other kids who have like interests but don't share the same academic or arts classes...these clubs range from topics like Minecraft to Downton Abbey to Archery! And at Lamar, "magnet kids" aren't separated from other kids - all classes are available to everyone - majoring in an artistic strand only guarantees you will have a place in the courses of your strand. So no one is left out or feels "other" or not good enough.Hats off the Principal Llewelyn and the Lamar teachers and staff for transforming Lamar into a place where creativity and a quest for knowledge come into play every day…job well done!

We moved from India in March 2016. We took admission for our child in 7th grade.The school supported us in every possible way to get our child accustomed in the new pattern of study here. The teachers have always helped my child whenever she needed support.

My daughter had a wonderful experience at Lamar. She transferred in her 7th grade year from a comparatively rigorous magnet program in 6th grade, into the visual arts strand at Lamar Fine Arts Academy. She took pre-AP courses but was never overloaded with homework, she always enjoyed her classes, and she made a good number of friends who were part of the FAA and also some who were not in the program. There didn't seem to be a noticeable separation of academy vs. non-academy students, which we appreciated. She felt safe in the school and at school events. The smaller student population was a nice change from the previous school. Lamar has a friendly atmosphere of inclusion and collaboration. Our daughter didn't encounter bullying, or even what I'd consider typical teenage rivalry or peer pressure. All of the faculty and staff we encountered were consistently super positive, engaged, nurturing of success, and they seemed genuinely happy to be teaching at Lamar. All of the arts strands produce strong artists, but the stellar band program in particular blew us away. The jazz, wind ensemble and concert bands are nationally recognized for their achievements, for a reason. We are grateful that our daughter had the opportunity to be a part of the Lamar bands and the art program. She learned a great deal and made happy memories, and her move to the McCallum Fine Arts Academy was seamless. We hope that her younger sister's years at Lamar will be equally as great.