Jory Houser is now the new West Elementary Principal in Knoxville. 

Houser will take over for Amy Taylor, who resigned after last school year, and he is looking forward to coming back to Marion County, as he is originally from the area. Houser has spent time as an elementary and middle school counselor in Des Moines, a high school counselor at Southeast Polk, and has spent time teaching overseas in Mexico, China, and Turkey. Houser most recently served as the assistant elementary principal at Crocker Elementary in Ankeny. Houser says that Knoxville has been a special place for him as his grandparents are from the community, and he said this role seemed like a perfect fit.

“I really liked my previous school. It was an amazing school. I liked my staff. I was only going to leave if something really good opened up for me, a place that I knew I wanted to be and this was it. Everything kind of fell into line. The fit seemed really great for me. This community, the school, the supports. I talked to some teachers and they reaffirmed that this is a really good staff that I’m going to be a part of.

Hear more from Houser on today’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.