Kate Walker was selected as Kramer Elementary’s new principal after Katherine Wanserski Eska accepted a position as North Dallas High School’s new leader.
What’s your background in education?
This is my 18th year in education and my fifth year in Dallas ISD. I taught reading in grades 5-8 for 13 years in Garland ISD. I came to Dallas in 2013 as a principal fellow at Walnut Hill. The past three years I have been an assistant principal at Anne Frank, and I am now so excited to have been selected as the Kramer principal.
This year, Kramer receives its International Baccalaureate designation. What does that mean for the school?
The IB designation is such a huge honor for the school. Kramer has spent the past two years preparing and learning the curriculum, so teachers will continue to implement the IB inquiry-based learning in the classrooms, as well as attend trainings to help them be even more successful.
What are your goals for the school year?
Our big goals this year are to continue to partner with Momentous Institute and implement social-emotional learning that also ties in with our IB student learner profiles. We also want to continue to work to implement the IB inquiry-based learning with fidelity, and finally to tie in with the district goals of implementing balanced literacy across the grade levels.
What are the biggest challenges that Kramer faces?
Kramer’s two-way dual language program has been thriving; however, our challenge is to bridge the language gap between English and Spanish speaking families so everyone feels successful and included. We are working intentionally this year to begin to bridge that gap by working with our dual language department, as well as our community to support all languages.
Kramer’s enrollment has increased dramatically the past three years, especially among neighborhood families. How do you plan to continue that?
I want to get out into the community and meet as many families as possible. I want to continue our monthly school tours and face-to-face meetings with potential students. I also want to work with the PTA to help get the word out. They are such a positive, supportive group of parents. We would love to continue that momentum and growth.
