HERMITAGE — Dr. Daniel J. and Stefanie Bell put their house in Lawrence County on the market Sunday.

“That’s symbolic of my anxiousness,” Bell said Monday, shortly after he was hired as superintendent of Hermitage School District.

That anxiousness is one of the qualities that school board members liked about him.

“He’s ready to go,” said Board President Victor J. Ellenberger. “He’s chomping at the bit to come in and take over.”

“I know we’re all very, very happy,” board member Laurie Ann Biblis said of Bell’s hiring by an 8-0 vote. “I know we’re not happy at losing our Karen (A. Ionta), but we’re happy to be getting him.”

Bell, 39, a father of three school-aged daughters, started his career at Hickory High School teaching high school government and history from 1995-2000. He also was girls varsity softball coach and chairman of the social studies department.

He joined Shenango Area School District, near New Castle, as assistant high school principal and served as junior high principal and assistant superintendent before being named superintendent in 2006.

“Having lived here (in Hermitage), when this opportunity came open, it was an immediate desire to rejoin the district,” he said, citing the “exceptional” community support of the district, the “extensive” educational programming and the collaborative relationship between city and school officials.

He said his immediate focus will be meeting everyone in the school system and developing goals for the district.

“Teachers are the experts of the classroom, so I look to them,” said Bell, who received a bachelor’s degree from Grove City College, a master’s degree from Westminster College in New Wilmington, and a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. “I see the administrative function of supporting them with the tools they need for high student achievement.”

Bell said he leads by collaboration and consensus, and Ellenberger said those qualities were borne out in talks with employees at Shenango who thought highly of Bell and did not want him to leave.

“Nothing negative whatsoever,” Ellenberger said.

Bell noted that Shenango was named by Business Week magazine as one of the top five Pennsylvania high schools because of its improvement on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests.

“We feel what he did for test scores at Shenango he can do here in Hermitage,” Ellenberger said.

Bell has similar traits to Mrs. Ionta, among them optimism, excitement and exuberance, school board members said.

“When he came in, he sold himself,” Ellenberger said. “He’s very well versed in curriculum and finance. He’s a people person. He wants to learn. He wants to learn more.”

Bell is chairman of a 17-school healthcare consortium, a position he will have to resign because Hermitage is not a member of the consortium.

Ms. Biblis said it was obvious to her from the first interview that Bell was the man for the job.

“Everything he answered was just what I wanted to hear,” he said.

But, board members said, they followed through with the extensive selection process created by Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV, Grove City, which included three rounds of interviews and the community visit.

“As a board we really did our homework,” Rob Gelesky said.

Gelesky added that he and Bell have mutual acquaintances, and his friends gave Bell glowing reviews.

“My only regret is I don’t get to work with you very much,” Mrs. Ionta said. “We’re going to make you a Hornet again.”

She handed Bell a thick binder of information that she said he had asked for, and told him, “You have some homework, dear.”

“The school district is going to be in good hands,” Mrs. Ionta said. “You have good people to work with.”

“I appreciate the confidence you’re placing in me,” Bell said. “I take this job as serious as everyone in this room.”

The board awarded Bell a four-year contract with a starting salary of $118,000. Bell said he is working out the details of his severance from Shenango, and did not know when he would start work at Hermitage.