There was no previous path carved out for him.

So he paved it himself.

By his senior year of high school, Assistant Principal Lawrence Garnett did not know which direction to take.

“A young lady who I was with at the time, a grade below me, had influences to go to college and all of these wonderful things,” Garnett said. “Maybe a year and a half after I graduated, I met her aunt, and her aunt was the registrar at the university I ended up going to, and she was like, ‘I can get you in.’ I had the grades and everything, so I just filled out my FAFSA and I blindly went to school.”

Although he entered Norfolk State University as a science major with plans for dental school, he shifted toward education by his senior year of college.

“I caught the education ‘bug’ when I was in college,” Garnett said. “My chemistry professor offered me an opportunity to earn some extra money tutoring. One particular kid came in and his reading levels were extremely low. I helped him read one sentence, and his appreciation for me led me to think that, ‘Hey, I can do this,’ and that I would be appreciated for teaching.”

Without the support to navigate medicine, his interest in dentistry began to “fade.” In addition to his discovery of another pathway, Garnett found education through his mentors in college, who helped guide him throughout the teaching process.

“I don’t think it was necessarily my ability,” Garnett said. “It was more or less about not understanding the path and overwhelming cost of dental school at the time.”

He was accepted to Teach for Charlotte, also known as Teach for America, which incentivized college graduates to enter education. Most of the time, the program would put graduates on the track for leadership and education, according to Garnett.

“I got into the program, but the fear of living on my own without the support of my family got the best of me,” Garnett said. “I was all alone in Charlotte and had an apartment picked out and everything. I went back to my home in Virginia and the young lady who I was with, who is now my wife, relocated here to Texas, and that’s how I got here and started my education career in Texas.”

However, he didn’t always have the goal of being an administrator. Before becoming one, Garnett taught in different high schools in Texas for approximately seven years.

“My thing was teaching and coaching football, that’s really all I wanted to do at the time,” Garnett said. “I just wanted to teach science, and then that’s what I did. I switched to an administrator role because Principal Niggli and a few others saw potential in me as a classroom teacher to be an effective campus administrator when he came to the high school as a principal. He believed in me enough to say, ‘Hey, I feel like you can have a positive effect on this campus.’ So I gave it a shot.”

Lawrence Garnett

Garnett went with his students to Spain in 2024, as part of the EF program. He was one of the chaperones for the program.“I graciously thank Mrs. Chapman for the opportunity to go abroad,” Garnett said.

For Garnett, one of the most rewarding moments as an administrator is seeing his students graduate years later, and doing “okay.”

“You may not be perfect, life may not be what you want, but you have a smile, you’re healthy, and you’re doing something positive,” Garnett said. “That’s probably the most rewarding part of my job because once again, I remember most of my students when they were freshmen. I remember most of them when they were making mistakes, or going through their life experiences.”

His specialty isn’t just limited to the classroom as Garnett makes it a point to attend students’ athletic events and extracurricular activities whenever he can, from writing letters of recommendation to showing up at games and performances.

“Of course you got your run-of-the-mill letters of recommendation, those are easy,” Garnett said. “But anything outside of school that’s positive, and that they invite me to, I try to show up to at least one event.”

On the most difficult days though, Garnett said that he reminds himself his job isn’t just about himself.

“This job is purpose-driven,” Garnett said. “I’m dealing with souls. While students are here, I take a bit of ownership as it relates to my concern for their overall work. I’m human like everyone else — I’m not up to the task till I hit the door. Once I hit the door and interact with people inside, I’m reminded of my purpose.”

Senior Jay Stanfield said he often sees Garnett in the hallways during school hours, and that he has a good relationship with the student body.

“Mr. Garnett is always chill, and he’s super cool,” Stanfield said. “I always feel like I can talk to him about anything. Every time I see him, he’s always in a good mood and not in a bad mood. When I see him, it also puts me in a good mood to see a familiar adult figure at Bellaire who’s always [happy] and you can tell he enjoys what he does.”

Three Penny Press, yearbook, psychology and personal financial literacy teacher Jennifer Buergermeister said even though Garnett’s presence is quiet, it’s still felt by the whole school community.

“True safety is not loud, it moves with quiet vigilance,” Buergermeister said. “I have watched Garnett run toward teenage ‘fires’ while others freeze, focused and fearless, like a gazelle crossing the field during chaos. Bellaire is safer because Mr. Garnett is always there – steady, watchful, and already in motion before the rest of us even realize we need him.”

Because her classroom is located by Main Street, she sees a lot of incidents involving fights appear in real-time. When a scene is occurring, Buergermeister sees Garnett appear quickly.

“I wish more people understood that administrators carry the emotional temperature of an entire building,” Buergermeister said. “Good administrators are constantly scanning for ‘teenage fires’ before they ignite. They are thinking three steps ahead about safety, logistics, morale, compliance, and culture, all at once. I think what I wish more people appreciated is this: when administrators do their job well, it often looks like nothing happened. But ‘nothing happened’ in a school of 3,000 adolescents is rarely accidental. It is intentional, watchful leadership at work.”

Garnett said every decision he makes is guided by more than just policy.

“You have the legal aspect of it, the Student Code of Conduct,” Garnett said. “You have the parent in me. Then you have my moral side and my faith. I try to lead with grace and mercy because that’s what I would have wanted. Some days I needed someone to listen, and some days I needed someone to understand that I was wrong and needed help. This is just a moment of time, and I look forward to seeing my students graduate so we can look back on it.”