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
Since the school year is winding down, so will our Administrator Connection (our weekly blog update for school leaders). This Friday’s update (May 29) will be the last issue for the 2014-15 school year. If you have any information you’d like to communicate to school administrators before then, be sure to send it to Claire Sowder, Communications Specialist, at csowder@heartlandaea.org by noon on May 28. The blog will start up again around mid-August.
Award applications can be found on the Iowa School Counselors Association website. Applications are due by Sept. 15, 2015.
ISCA 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award Nominations
This recognition is given to an individual who has made major contributions to the school counseling profession in the state of Iowa. Nominate someone who has made a substantial and long-term commitment to the school counseling profession.
Gary Henrichs Award/Grant
The Iowa School Counselor Association invites K-12 school counselors to apply for this award. It has been established by the family of Gary Henrichs to acknowledge outstanding elementary school counselors in Iowa. This award/grant may be used by the recipient in any way he/she sees fit to help continue his/her work with the school children of Iowa. This award/grant will be presented at the annual ISCA Conference.
John L. Thompson Award/Grant
The Iowa School Counselor Association invites K-12 school counselors to apply for the John L. Thompson Award for Excellence in School Counseling. The award program is designed to recognize counselors who have developed exemplary programs to help students grow in academic and/or life skills.
Do you know someone who deserves to be named Iowa’s 2015 School Counselor of the Year?
Think of a counseling colleague… someone with whom you work, from whom you find support, whose counseling program supports the ASCA standards, who goes that extra mile to support students, who makes a true difference and is a credit to the school counseling profession. Doesn’t this individual deserve state-wide recognition by his/her peers?!?
Then take a few minutes and nominate a counselor by submitting an application for a 2015 Iowa School Counselor of the Year Award. Nominating is easy! Please go to the Iowa School Counselor Association website and complete a short, one page nomination form.
The nomination form asks for basic contact information as well as for the SCA (School Counseling Association) – please just mark “Iowa” in that box! Your nominee will receive an immediate notification via email and will be asked to complete the online application process. No nominations will be accepted after Aug. 15, 2015. Applications must be completed by Sept. 15, 2015. All nominees must be a member of ISCA as of Sept. 15, 2015.
Feel free to contact Troy Bergmann at tbergmann@north-cedarstu.org or (563) 452-3179 with questions regarding the nomination and/or application process.
In recent years there have been a number of student loan forgiveness programs available, and some of our staff members have been able to take advantage of them. We wanted to make some of these programs known to employees, as you might be eligible and not even know!
Because each loan forgiveness program is specific to the types of student loans you may have, the content area of your degree, as well as how long you’ve worked in your field or carried your loan, we can’t tell you if you’re eligible or not; however, feel free to explore the links below to learn more. And if you know of another loan forgiveness program that we’ve left off this list, let the Human Resources Department know!
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program
The PSLF Program is intended to encourage individuals to enter and continue to work full-time in public service jobs. Under this program, borrowers may qualify for forgiveness of the remaining balance of their Direct Loans after they have made 120 qualifying payments on those loans while employed full-time by certain public service employers.
Iowa Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program
The State of Iowa offers loan repayment assistance to Iowa educators who are teaching in a shortage subject area, as designated by the Iowa Department of Education. Iowa teacher shortage areas are designated annually. Special Education has been identified as a shortage area.
Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program
The Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program is intended to encourage individuals to enter and continue in the teaching profession. Under this program, if you teach full-time for five complete and consecutive academic years in certain elementary and secondary schools and educational service agencies that serve low-income families, and meet other qualifications, you may be eligible for forgiveness of up to a combined total of $17,500 on your Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and your Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans. If you have PLUS loans only, you are not eligible for this type of forgiveness.
Teacher Cancellation
If you have a loan from the Federal Perkins Loan Program you might be eligible for loan cancellation for full-time teaching at a low-income school, or for teaching in certain subject areas. You can also qualify for deferment for these qualifying teaching services. Check with the school that made your Federal Perkins Loan for more information.
The 2015-16 calendar has been added to the Employee Dashboard for all staff members who need to complete a calendar. The link to this function is found in the Calendar Online Forms folder on the Leave Online tab.
The calendar presented will be the default calendar based on the individual staff member’s pay assignment. This will look very similar to the Online Calendar View function. However, functionality is built into the interface to allow the personalization of the calendar to reflect the staff member’s schedule—this is done by simply clicking on the day in question. Each time a day is clicked, it will change to one of the following:
- Blue X – represents a non-working day
- Green / – represents a half working day
- White Space – represents a full working day
A yellow H represents unpaid holidays, and a yellow H followed by an asterisk (*) represents paid holidays. Sundays and holidays cannot be changed.
At the top of the screen two numbers will be presented. The number on the left is the number of working days based on the days selected as such—in other words, the total of the white spaces (full days) and green slashes (half days). The second number is the number of days expected to work based on the pay assignment. These two numbers must match when the calendar is submitted.
A help doc named “Calendar Online Entry Documentation” is available on the Help tab. This document describes in detail all functions of the interface.
When the calendar is submitted, it will be routed to the staff member’s supervisor just as a leave request would be. And, just as a leave request, the supervisor will review and can approve or reject your calendar. Applicable emails are sent to the staff member and their need-to-know person as well.
Once approved, the 2015-16 calendar can be viewed by the staff member, the supervisor and the need-to-know person. Also, all subsequent changes to the 2015-16 calendar must be submitted via the Calendar Exchange Online request system after July 1, 2015.
The working days calendars are due before you leave for the summer or June 13, whichever comes first.
If you have any questions, contact Samantha Perry, Human Resources Specialist, at sperry@heartlandaea.org or ext. 14432.
For the past 11 years, the Our Kids Summer Institute has provided a high-quality professional development opportunity for teachers and administrators who work with English learners. Historically, premier presenters from the U.S and Canada have shared their expertise, networking opportunities and multicultural experiences have been provided and various conference strands have met a range of needs and interests among participants.
In addition, Our Kids prides itself on highlighting cultures of students and families in Iowa by incorporating culturally and linguistically diverse voices in panels, cultural performances, planning, etc.
Speakers at this year’s event will include:
- Clemencia Spizzirri: Iowa’s 2015 Teacher of the Year (Spanish teacher at Merrill Middle School in Des Moines) Iowa’s first Teacher of the Year who was an ELL, herself!
- Dr. Ryan Nelson of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette: Fostering Strengths and Resilience in Reluctant Learners: Literacy Instruction for Children with Differences
- Dr. Kristiina Montero of Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada: Teaching Reading to Adolescent ELLs with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education
- Daphne Germain: Senior Director of ELL Services and Professional Development for Boston Public Schools
Dates: June 16 & 17, 2015
Location: Waukee High School
Activity Number: ES009168221601
There have been several requests across the state seeking registration information for the Journey to Excellence Mentor Facilitator Training. This training is for those individuals who organize and facilitate the Mentor & Induction program either at their AEA or district staff who currently hold those positions or aspire to do so. This year’s training is funded through the AEA TLC funds and ISEA NEA grant funds. Learn more below about the training and where to register.
The Journey to Excellence program offers many strong areas of focus: 1) it clearly focuses on effective teaching using the Iowa Teaching Standards as defined in A Framework for Understanding the Iowa Teaching Standards and Criteria, 2) it prepares experienced educators to serve as mentors and 3) it provides learning opportunities for mentors to use with beginning educators.
Furthermore, a focus is directed to understand the relationship between the Iowa Teaching Standards and comprehensive evaluation. This relationship helps establish a “firewall” between mentor and evaluator by acknowledging the confidential relationship between the beginning educator and the mentor.
Compared to other programs, the benefits are twofold: for the beginning educator, a qualified teacher is created; for the mentor, a teacher leader is created.
Journey to Excellence Mentor Facilitator Training
Dates: June 23-27, 2015 (webinar support dates will be held throughout the school year for implementation assistance)
Location: Stoney Creek Conference Center
Registration: http://www.cvent.com/d/qrq0rr
As you are aware, there are two lines for signature on the Medicaid Consent for billing paperwork for Part C services. The first line allows Heartland AEA staff to bill Medicaid, and the second allows the State to bill private insurance, as required by law. Sometimes it is difficult to get parents to agree to the second signature for private insurance, or they decline private insurance billing. The guidelines below are recommended when presented with these circumstances:
(1) If a child has private insurance: Both signature lines are needed in order to bill Medicaid. MJ Care does not bill private insurance, however the State might. If the family refuses to sign the second signature, the provider should make a statement near the signature line that the family has private insurance and chose not to sign.
(2) If a child does not have private insurance: If the child does not have private insurance, there are a couple of acceptable scenarios. Either the staff can put a statement somewhere near the second signature line such as “The child does not have private insurance” or the family can sign. In either case, MJ Care can bill Medicaid.
(3) If the second signature is blank, with no statement: Staff is encouraged to complete the consent form with the family at their next opportunity.
If you have any questions, contact Sara Mercer, School Psychologist, at smercer@heartlandaea.org or ext. 14312.
If you haven’t yet added the Agency’s Internal Calendar to your Google Calendar, follow the instructions below to do so. The Internal Calendar lists professional development activities, large meetings, holidays, etc. for the Agency.
To add the Internal Calendar to your own Google Calendar, follow these steps:
1. Click the down-arrow next to “Other calendars.”
2. Select “Add a Coworker’s calendar” from the menu.
3. Copy and paste this link: aea11.k12.ia.us_gg5e2fnevnqej0cp8f5ap2a4lg@group.calendar.google.com
4. Click “Add.”
If you have any questions or experience difficulty in adding this calendar, contact Tim Weets, Network Specialist, at tweets@heartlandaea.org or ext. 14322.
