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
This year’s Staff & Schools Directory is available. It is archived on the Intranet > Communications > Annual Publications, Presentations & Resources. The directory includes contact information for all Heartland AEA staff and each school building our agency serves.
If you have any questions, contact the Communications Department.
We are happy to once again offer staff the opportunity to have their biometric screening done at an agency office! We hope this will make it a bit easier for you to get your screening completed.
As before, a Hy-Vee dietitian will provide the screenings, which will include a full lipid panel, blood glucose, BMI, body fat and blood pressure tests. The dietitian will also review the results of these tests with you on the spot. Please fast for a minimum of 8 hours prior to screening.
A full schedule of screening locations, dates and times can be found on the Hy-Vee website. Once you’re in the Hy-Vee website, go to the drop down box and select “Heartland AEA,” and then select the location that you’d like to visit. Then you can choose a date and time to reserve for your screening. You are reminded to please be on time for your scheduled appointment, which should only last 15 minutes. Make sure to get a copy of your results so you can input them into the WebMD portal!
And remember, if you can’t make it to the office for a screening, you can make your own appointment at a Hy-Vee store as long as there is a dietician on staff at the store you choose. Be sure to call ahead to the store before you schedule your screening, as walk-ins CANNOT be guaranteed.
Remember, if you earned a Fitbit last year, you will earn 3 points for completing a biometric screening and taking the wellness assessment this year. These points can be spent in the new Wellness Catalog. If you didn’t earn a Fitbit last year, you will earn one this year by completing your wellness assessment.
If you have any questions, contact Wellness Program leads Katie Streff or Juliette Houseman.
In the Wellness Words column in Friday’s HeartBeat, there was a link to a poll that asked staff to vote for their favorite Live Healthy Iowa Step Challenge team name. That link didn’t go to the place – oops! Click here to vote for your favorite team name!
The agenda for the Oct. 13, 2015 Heartland AEA Board of Directors meeting is now available.
A scaled back version of Capacity Building strands is going to continue during the 2015-16 school year. Participants in the reading, math and behavior strands will participate in 2-4 days of training. Feedback from last year’s survey indicated that agency staff wants to learn in other areas. Participants can continue in their current strand or participate in other strand areas. If staff members have participated in some of the listed offerings since July 1, it will count toward their 2-4 days of learning. Staff members are encouraged to discuss their learning choices with their regional directors. Strand options can be found here.
First year staff members are not required to participate in Capacity Building since they are attending training specifically for them.
If you have any questions, contact the following staff about Capacity Building strands:
Behavior: Stacy Volmer, Regional Director
Literacy and Math: Wendy Robinson, Director of Instructional Services
If you have any questions about Capacity Building in general, contact Kevin Fangman, Executive Director of District Services.
This year over 340 staff members signed up for Teacher Quality courses and study groups. The amount staff members will be paid for participating in a course or study group is $640. Study group facilitators will be paid $690 and course instructors will be paid per diem.
Payment Process
Participants and instructors will receive notification on their Employee Dashboards that an addendum assignment has been initiated after the course or study group has been completed and all requirements have been met. Once a staff member has accepted the addendum assignment, his/her payment will be processed and will be on one of his/her next two paychecks depending on the timing of the payroll calendar.
If you have any questions about the payment process or the status of your reimbursement, contact Kevin Fangman, Executive Director of District Services.
Zoom Sessions Can Now Accommodate 50 Participants!
Heartland AEA uses Zoom extensively for videoconferencing, saving a great deal of time for our staff and money for our agency. In the past, a typical Zoom session was limited to 25 participants, but that limit has now been increased to 50! If you would like to learn more about using Zoom, contact the tech support lead in your office.
The first technology training module on Google Apps is proving to be very popular! As of Oct. 8, 394 staff had taken the initial assessment, and of those, approximately 30% “tested out” of the requirement to go through the accompanying training.
We encourage you to take the initial assessment soon, as the next module (Digital Citizenship) will be available some time in early November. Remember that there are seminars scheduled at regional offices later this month for those of you looking for support while taking the initial Google assessment or the training modules. Mande Gamble, Technology Training Specialist, will be available in the offices on the dates below from 9:30-11:30 a.m. and from 1:00-3:00 p.m. There is no need to register and the sessions are come-and-go -- you don’t need to stay for the entire morning and/or afternoon session. If you have any questions about the seminars, contact Mande.
October 20 -- Indianola regional office
October 22 -- Carroll regional office
October 27 -- Newton regional office
October 29 -- Ames regional office
