Our Mission
To provide services and leadership, in partnership with families, schools and communities, that improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth.

Our Goals
• Increase learning growth for students
• Decrease the gap in achievement
• Increase annual graduation rates
• Increase gateways to post-secondary success

Happy Holidays!

Click here for an e-card (with sound) from chief administrator Paula Vincent wishing you all a happy holiday season.

Revised Naming Convention for Out-of-Area Travel/PD Form

The suggested naming convention suggested in last week’s Connection for the Out of Area Travel/Professional Development form needs to be modified to 'OAT-your name-mm_dd_yy'. We are replacing the forward slash (/) with the underscore (_). The use of the forward slash (/) to separate the date causes problems for certain operating systems and could lead to problems with opening and saving the files. 

Please contact Brian Whalen, Business Manager, at bwhalen@heartlandaea.org or at extension 14005 if you have questions.

Upcoming December Payroll Timelines

Due to the upcoming agency holiday schedule, staff members paid from a timesheet must have their December 1-15 timesheets completed, approved by their supervisor and submitted to the Payroll Department by the end of the day on December 19 in order to ensure they receive pay at the end of the month. 

Agency offices will be closed on December 31. As a result, payday will be December 30. If you have any questions, please contact Steve Jordan (ext. 14908) or Tammy Lawrence (ext. 14422) in the Payroll Department.

December 2013 School Leader Update

Click here for a link to the December 2013 issue of the School Leader Update from the Iowa Department of Education.

December 2013 Board of Directors Meeting Agenda

Click here to download the agenda for the December 10 Heartland AEA Board of Directors meeting.

Mobile Hotspot Etiquette

The Agency has provided a growing number of employees with mobile hotspots or cellular service on their iPads. Please be aware that using these in places with existing wireless networks can cause those networks to perform poorly. So if you are in a partner school, please use their wireless connectivity as opposed to turning on your mobile hotspot or using your iPad as a hotspot. The school's tech support department (and all their students and staff) will greatly appreciate it. This also holds true in Heartland facilities.

Just as in movie theaters and on airplanes, where they ask you to shut off your cell phones, please remember to do the same with your mobile hotspots when you enter a building with a wireless network. For an iPad with cellular service, you can leave the iPad on, but please make sure that you go to the settings control panel and turn off the "Personal Hotspot" feature. Failure to do so will likely cause the existing wireless network to not perform well. Just as an FYI, some districts have features in their wireless networks to find mobile hot spots and turn them off. If your iPad is turning off unexpectedly, that could be the reason.

This Week’s Getting Great with Google Tip

How to Print What You Need from an Email

If you need to print an email, you can choose to print a section of an email conversation or print the whole conversation.

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/8255?hl=en