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

From the Chief Administrator

It’s hard to believe that we are at a close of another school year. Several schools will soon (or have already) dismissed for summer break, and many of you will hopefully find time to relax and recharge with family and friends over the next couple of months. This year has been quite a big year for both the Agency and the state in terms of changes and new opportunities. I am proud to share some of this year’s accomplishments: 

• Denison Organizational Culture Survey results 
• Regional meeting content helping AEA staff to implement multi-tiered system of supports in schools 
• Planning council structure assisting with implementation of literacy emphasis 
• Instructional coaching network support provided to 10% of elementary schools as first step in statewide early literacy scale-up (data results pending) 
• Support provided to districts for the Teacher Leadership and Compensation grant process (14 districts out of 39 awarded statewide were from Heartland AEA) 
• Data tool (Clarity by BrightBytes) provided to assist schools in personalizing PD to increase application of 21st century learning 
• Development of Department Planning Councils (DPCs) in Shared Services to mirror planning councils in regions - evidence of communication moving back and forth and up and down through the organization 
• Increased staffing flexibility to respond to district needs and consistency in contracts by moving to year round calendars with 192 base days for licensed staff 
• Advisory group input utilized to influence agency services 
• Completed HVAC renovation at Johnston Regional Education Center 

Looking ahead for next year, we are considering ways to monitor our continuous improvement process through each of our planning councils, including how we identify key actions to move our mission. This monitoring would also play an important role in the preparation for our DE Accreditation visit which will happen in the spring of 2015.

I was also encouraged to see staff taking advantage of the volunteer leave time opportunity that has been piloted this school year. Kudos to the following staff who have volunteered this year! (Their pictures can be found in recent HeartBeat issues and on our agency Facebook page.) 

Jan Carl                    Gina Menke 
Connie Kellogg          Melanie Dao 
Lisa Saunders           Danielle Schrad 
Barb Hoffman           DeAnn Leiting 
Jennifer Auen           Alyson Halley 
Kelly Grissom           Jennifer Downs 
Cindy Bruns             Carrie Roose 
Gayle Bortz              Holly Long-DeWolf 
Jennifer Etnyre         Jamie Punke 
Veretta Schuyler       Mary Johnson 
Sue Garvey              Jeri Messenger 
Sandy Anderson       Courtney McCormick 
Mary Heaberlin         Heng Fongkhamdeng 
Jill Crees                  Ashley Lenz 
Jan Morgan              Jane Quanbeck
Jennifer Taber

I am truly honored to be a part of an organization that is made up of such dedicated, caring staff! Everyone’s individual accomplishments lead to greater success of the Agency attaining our goals and furthering our mission to improve the learning outcomes and well-being of the children and youth we serve.  

Have a fantastic summer! 
Paula

Johnston REC HVAC Project Update – We’re Almost Done!

The HVAC project is chugging along at full speed, and the large portions of the project were wrapped up at the end of last week. Staff in the Internal Technology, Information Systems and Creative Services Departments will be moving to their new workstations early this week, and their relocation will mark the return of almost everyone to their new homes! 

This week the staff lounge will be renovated to include new flooring and cabinets. A new kitchenette is also being completed in Dustin Gean’s former office and will be home to a refrigerator, microwave, sink and cabinets. 

A number of conference rooms have also been modified and reconfigured during the renovation project and are almost ready to be taken for a spin! These rooms will feature more seating capacity, more light and new furniture. New offices near the Print Center for Rod Howell, Lance Wilhelm and Dustin Gean will be completed in the coming weeks. A new hallway next to the computer lab will also be installed in the near future, and the building’s environmental control system will also be fine-tuned during June.

Johnston REC Conference & Meeting Room Numbers Being Adjusted

For a number of reasons, it was time for a change! The numbers assigned to the meeting rooms and conference rooms in the Johnston Regional Education Center (REC) will be changing immediately. We realize the new numbering system may be a bit of an inconvenience short-term, but we are hopeful that it will ultimately be a positive change. Please see this chart for a list of rooms with the new numbering system. The numbering system is derived from the numbers that are assigned to each room in the REC building’s official architectural blueprint. We are renumbering the rooms for two important reasons: 

• We have been strongly encouraged by the Johnston fire and police departments to adopt a room numbering system that coincided with the building’s architectural layout. The fire and police departments will now have our building’s layout on file, and in the case of an emergency, we will be able to better communicate with them where the emergency is taking place within the building. 
• The numbering system we had in place no longer did a good job of communicating where our rooms where located in the building. The new system follows more of a numerical order and better reflects where each room is located within the REC building. 

All of the room signs have been updated, the Resource Scheduler has been updated and posters and maps will be made for the REC lobby and updated room request form will be available in the near future. If you have any questions, contact Dustin Gean, Operations Manager, or Lindsey Turner, Central Office Administrative Assistant.

Reminder: Let Us Know Your Feedback About The Connection, HeartBeat & Agency Website

The Communications Department strives to continuously improve our agency communications vehicles. To assist us in our efforts, we would appreciate your feedback about three important communications vehicles -- The Connection, HeartBeat and our agency website. Please provide your feedback in this short survey, which is distributed in a manner in which no individual can be personally identified. Thank you for your input!

June 2014 School Leader Update Now Available

Click here to read the June 2014 issue of the School Leader Update from the Iowa Department of Education. In this issue, Education Director Brad Buck looks back at the successful legislative session, Education Attorney Nicole Proesch gives us an update on new laws that concern every school district and competency-based education is being launched in some areas across the state – read what two districts are doing.

Retirement Toolkit Added to Benefits Resources

We have added a “retirement toolkit” to the resources available under on the Benefits link on the Intranet. The toolkit is published by the U.S. Department of Labor and has information and resources for individuals who are within 10 years of retirement.

Statewide AEA Professional Development Offerings – Now One Click Away!

You can now easily access the professional development offerings of all of Iowa’s AEAs and AEA PD Online through our Heartland AEA professional development catalog. A button at the bottom of the catalog now takes you to a statewide map with links to each AEA’s PD catalog. If you aren’t able to find just the right activity through our AEA, you can easily visit the course catalogs of the other eight AEAs to find what’s right for you!

Powerful Video Conferencing Tool Now Available For Agency Staff

All regular full- and part-time agency staff members will soon have access to a powerful, but easy to use, video conferencing tool called Zoom. This tool has been made possible by a cooperative purchase agreement through the Iowa Educators Consortium and is being widely adopted by other AEAs and the Iowa Department of Education. This tutorial video provides an excellent overview of Zoom and its basic features. 

By tomorrow morning, you will receive an email invitation from Lance Wilhelm, Director of Technology, inviting you to set up your Zoom account and install it on your computer and/or iPad. With the email invitation, you will receive more information about Zoom and who you can contact for questions and support. We are excited about this new tool and look forward to helping you tap into its potential uses!