Our Mission
To improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth by providing services and leadership in partnership with families, schools and communities.Our Goals
• Increase learning growth for students
• Decrease the gap in achievement
• Increase annual graduation rates
• Increase gateways to post-secondary success
At its June 14 meeting, the Heartland AEA Board of Directors voted to re-word the Agency’s mission statement to put a greater emphasis on why we exist – to improve the learning outcomes and well-being of children and youth. The revised statement is:
To improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth by providing services and leadership in partnership with families, schools and communities.
The Communications Department will be updating the statement in the electronic places where it lives, and there is no need to re-print any hard copy items you may have with the mission on it. If you have the statement in your email signature, please update it there.
The Agency is pleased to announce that Jeff Weinberg will be joining Heartland AEA as the new Director of Technology. Jeff will succeed Lance Wilhelm, who is returning to his hometown to teach.
Jeff has a long history of providing leadership and support for technology in educational settings, having worked for the Diocese of Dubuque, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and most recently, Marshalltown Community Schools, where he as spent the last 10 years as their Director of Information Technology. Given the timing of our hiring process, Jeff will officially join the Agency on Aug. 1.
Although Jan. 2, 2017 is an official agency holiday, it has been updated on Certified staff calendars to be a “non-work day.” Certified staff members may now change Jan. 2nd to be a workday on their calendars if necessary to meet the needs of the schools they serve. If you don’t see Jan. 2nd as a non-work day on your calendar, try clearing your browser history and viewing your calendar again. If you have any issues or questions regarding this change, contact Human Resources.
Heartland AEA is offering you an opportunity to lose weight -- at no cost -- with a program called Naturally Slim.
Naturally Slim is an online program that helps you lose weight, plus improve your overall health -- all while eating the foods you love! With Naturally Slim, you will learn that you don’t have to starve yourself or count calories to lose weight and keep it off forever.
Space in the program is limited. To be considered, you must complete the online application by June 24, 2016.
Learn more and apply here today! If you have any questions, contact Juliette Houseman, Benefits Specialist, at ext. 14315.
Lightning is a serious danger. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), an average of 54 people are reported killed by lightning each year in the U.S., and hundreds are permanently injured by lightning. Summer is the peak season for this deadly phenomenon.
This is the perfect time to review what you should do in the event there is a severe thunderstorm and/or lightning in your immediate area -- at home or at work. Visit Be Ready Iowa or the National Weather Service for additional information.
Recently, a number of staff members have not been able to digitally sign and save Adobe PDF documents. As the Internal Technology Department is working to troubleshoot this issue, they have found there are two workarounds available at this time:
1) Save the document in a different location than you would typically save it. For example, if you have a folder for signed timesheets on your desktop, create a similar folder in your Documents folder and save there.
2) Delete what is called the pList for Adobe. The Internal Tech staff has found this to be a better solution, as you are able to continue on working without changing the location of documents or your workflow. If you continue to have issues with Adobe digital signature, it is recommend you delete the pList from your computer. A step-by-step tutorial (here) and a video tutorial (here) are available for you assistance.
If you have any questions, contact Mande Gamble, Technology Training Specialist, at ext. 14676 or Marquis Jones, Technology Support Specialist, at ext. 14618.
