Ben Gonzales

Dr. Ben Gonzales serves Aspire as the Senior Director of Student and Family Support Services. Ben comes to Aspire with over 20 years of experience in education. Prior to entering the field of education, Ben worked in politics and government in the area of youth and education policy. He began his educational career as a social studies teacher focusing on world history and government. Ben moved into administration by serving as a high school vice-principal and went on to serve as a high school principal as well. He moved to district administration and became the Coordinator of Student Services for a k-12 school district. Ben then began working on school based mental health program planning and implementation and developed a full scope mental health model supporting staff, families and students.

Ben holds a BA in Political Science from San Jose State University, a Master’s Degree in Education Administration from the University of the Pacific and a Doctorate Degree in Education from the University of Southern California (Fight On!!). His doctoral work focused on the way school systems identify and refer students with non-externalizing (anxiety, depression etc.) mental illness for evaluation.

In his off time Ben is a huge hockey and football fan, additionally he loves making great bar-b-que in the smoker. Ben has been married for over 20 years and has two children, one in college and one in high school.