Long-tenured Bremerton School District Superintendent Aaron Leavell said on Thursday he will become superintendent of Olympia Educational Service District 114.

His email announcement to staff and the community comes after his becoming superintendent nine years ago. OESD’s serves as a facilitator between Kitsap and Olympia peninsula school districts and the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Education.

Leavell will replace current OESD superintendent Greg Lynch, who joined the organization in 2013.

In his message to the community, Leavell wrote: “In this position, I will have the opportunity to lead the Superintendents in our region and continue the high quality of support services that the OESD provides to local school districts, tribal and private schools.

“I am honored to have this opportunity and to lead such a strong organization,” he wrote.

Leavell began his career with the Bremerton School District in 1997 as a teacher and an athletic coach at Bremerton Junior High School. He later became assistant principal there and then Bremerton High School principal. In 2009, he was recognized as the Washington State High School Principal of the Year. Leavell then spent three years with the North Kitsap School District as a secondary education director but returned to Bremerton as the assistant superintendent. He then became the school district’s leader.