Jason Van Voorhis is no stranger to the West End.

His mother is a former mail carrier within the communities that make up the Pleasant Valley School District and now he will be leading one of the district’s buildings.

Van Voorhis was unanimously approved Thursday night as the next Pleasant Valley Middle School principal.

“I’m super excited,” Van Voorhis, a Pocono Mountain High School graduate, said after the meeting. “I grew up in the Poconos and it’s awesome to be centered back there again.”

The board set his starting salary at $97,000. Van Voorhis comes to the district after working as assistant principal at J.T. Lambert Intermediate School in East Stroudsburg School District since 2015.

“When an opportunity came up to work in a middle school, which is the level I’m passionate about, with a group of students that I love already just because I know and understand the area, I had to jump at it,” he said.

Pleasant Valley’s middle school leadership has been in a state of flux throughout the 2018-19 school year. Rocco Seiler was on leave for most of the school year after being named in a grand jury report as a party to an incident that took place in May 2009 in a bar while in the company of former district employee Josh Krebs.

Seiler has since retired from the district. Assistant Principal Josephine Fields served as acting principal in his absence.

“First and foremost it’s to bring back a sense of community and rebuild anything we can to make sure the culture moving forward is what we want it to be,” Van Voorhis said of his goals for the new position. “We are going to strive for academic excellence. We’re a firm believer of the student first mindset and making sure everything we do is to improve their personal growth and academic growth.”

At J.T. Lambert, Van Voorhis had a chance to learn under a familiar face to the area, former Lehighton Area High School Principal Craig Reichl, who now leads that building.

“A lot of what I do aligns very closely with Craig,” he said. “If you know him, you know me. In a lot of ways, my experience with Craig set me up really well for this position. It’s bittersweet to leave J.T. Lambert, but professionally, this is a great opportunity.”

Pleasant Valley administrators and staff members lined up after Thursday’s meeting to welcome Van Voorhis to the district.

“I’m very appreciative of the warm welcome and I’m looking forward to getting started,” he said.