Dr. Benjamin Kramer, a former principal at Austin Independent School District’s Mathews Elementary School, has been appointed principal of the University of Texas Elementary School.
“We are so pleased to have Dr. Kramer on board,” said Melissa Chavez, the school’s executive director. “The breadth of his experience as a teacher and administrator is impressive. I know he will be a mentor and role model for faculty, staff and students.”
Kramer joins the elementary school team after teaching in the Educational Leadership Program at Texas State University. He was principal of Mathews Elementary from 1998-2004 and assistant principal at the International High School of Austin from 2005-06.
Dr. Kramer said, “As I join the UT Elementary campus and community, I am thrilled with the sense of potential — not just for the kids and the school community, but for the tremendous opportunities that an alliance with UT provides. I look forward to discovering all the ways that the university interacts with the school to foster world-class learning and to exploring possibilities for furthering the connections.”
Dr. Kramer holds a bachelor’s degree in classics from Princeton University, a master’s in education degree from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in curriculum studies from The University of Texas at Austin. He has taught in Greece, in Ecuador and as a Teach for America member in Houston. His awards include special commendation from the Austin Children’s Shelter for his work with homeless students and the 2008 American Educational Research Association Outstanding Dissertation in Second Language Research.
The University of Texas Elementary School is a pre-kindergarten through fifth grade charter school that is a research-based demonstration school and serves about 275 students in the East Austin area. It is in The University of Texas at Austin Division of Diversity and Community Engagement portfolio and has been rated exemplary by the Texas Education Agency.
