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 

2017 All-Staff Meeting: Come “Connect, Celebrate, Learn” on Sept. 15!

We look forward to a great day of connecting, celebrating and learning from one another!

Location 

Holiday Inn Des Moines - Airport
6111 Fleur Drive

Des Moines, IA

Time 

9 - 9:30 a.m. – Registration, Coffee and Conversation
(coffee only, no breakfast fare)
9:30 - 11:35 a.m. – General Session
11:35 a.m - 12:45 p.m. – Lunch
11:35 a.m. – 1 p.m.  – Wellness/Benefits Fair
12:45 – 2:20 p.m. – PechaKucha Presentations


Details
General Session
The morning’s general session will be a chance to hear from Jon Sheldahl, our new chief administrator, as well as other agency leaders about information for the year to come and highlights from the past year. We’ll also have a chance to celebrate successes and honor our years of service award recipients.

Food & Beverage

Only coffee and tea will be served in the morning, so please plan to eat breakfast before you arrive. Lunch will consist of a turkey sandwich on a croissant, apple slices, mini carrots and a cookie. If you have special dietary needs, complete this form to let us know. Water stations will be available throughout the day if you’d like to bring a water bottle, and an afternoon snack will be served as well.

PechaKucha Presentations
Our afternoon will again be spent learning from one another during PechaKucha-style presentations (6 minute, 40 second presentations with images and lively storytelling). There are time slots for you to see up to four presentations from your colleagues. Presentation list coming next week!

United Way
We will kick off our annual United Way campaign again this year at the All-Staff meeting. We are counting on you to once again pledge record support to United Way, so they can in turn support communities through education, income and health initiatives! Watch your tables for pledge forms to begin pledging your support on Sept. 15. Everyone (whether you donate to United Way or not) will have the chance to fill out a form to get your name in a drawing for some great gifts!

Benefits/Wellness Fair
The Benefits/Wellness Fair will be held from 11:35 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Many of our past vendors will again be on hand, including our flu shot nurses! The Fair will be held in the foyer outside of the Iowa Hall, where our general session will be held, as well as in the Ballroom Foyer of the hotel. A map of the hotel will be available for you at the meeting. More information to follow.

Wear Agency Colors
Wear your agency colors – purple or green – and proudly display your Heartland AEA pride! You are welcome to wear typical casual Friday attire and any agency-branded t-shirts you have.

Fill in the Tables
Please make every attempt to fill the chairs at every table. Please do not move chairs around from table to table, either. We would like to avoid having to scramble to find a place for everyone to sit.

Parking

The Airport Holiday Inn has fewer parking spots available on the property than Adventureland and the Sheraton have afforded us in the past. The Holiday Inn has 400 spots on site, however, there is free street parking to the north, south and east, as well as paid parking on the north and south sides of the hotel. We encourage you to carpool to the meeting if possible. Grab some coffee and a donut, take some selfies and put yourself in a good mood for our annual gathering! More information about parking is below. (Click on the photo to enlarge.)

Reminder: Aug. 31 Last Day to Submit FY 2017 Expenses for Reimbursement

Aug. 31 is the last date the Business Office will accept and process any claims for expenses occurring on or before June 30, 2017. Do not submit expense claims with dates crossing the new fiscal year. Use a separate expense claim if you still have reimbursable expenses, which occurred prior to July 1, 2017.

If you have any questions, contact Mary Heaberlin, Accounts Payable Specialist, at ext. 14818 or Brian Whalen, Business Manager, at ext. 14005.

For Second Year in a Row, Early Literacy Efforts Making Strides

For the second year in a row, Iowa has made significant progress to improve the reading skills of students in kindergarten through third grade, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced last week.

Speaking from Edmunds Elementary School in Des Moines, Reynolds said the share of students who met or surpassed the benchmarks Iowa uses to measure statewide progress on the screening assessment increased from 67 percent to 70 percent in public schools between fall 2016 and spring 2017. That 3 percentage-point growth hits the target the state has set for annual early literacy growth.

That builds on progress during the previous year when the share of public and non-public students meeting or exceeding benchmarks grew 4 percentage points. Non-public school results for the past year will be available soon.

All told, the progress in the last two years translates to 14,000 Iowa students who went from missing reading benchmarks to meeting them. Being proficient in reading by the end of third grade is considered a critical milestone in a child’s education. Students falling short of reading proficiency by that time face an uphill battle with their education going forward, with many eventually dropping out. Still, nearly one in four students is not proficient in reading by the end of third grade.

“Iowa’s schools – and the education system that supports them – have come together around several initiatives in the past six years with the goal of preparing Iowa students for success in high school and beyond,” Ryan Wise, Director of the Iowa Department of Education, said. 

Read the entire article at the Iowa Department of Education’s website.

You Have Four Hours to Get Out and Volunteer!

Heartland AEA staff members are granted up to 4 hours of agency time per fiscal year to do volunteer/community service work. Keep the following guidelines in mind when volunteering:

• There must be at least three Heartland AEA staff members (you and at least two other staff) working at the same volunteer opportunity together.
• Staff members are encouraged to wear Heartland AEA logo clothing or our “Heartland Cares” stickers that were created for this purpose. You can request stickers by contacting the Communications Department. (Please request your stickers so others can see who you are!)
• Of course, you must approve your leave with your supervisor before taking the time off.
• Volunteer leave should be recorded in the Leave Online system as Volunteer Leave.
• Finally, to celebrate our work, take a photo of your group during the volunteer activity and send it to the Communications Department with information about the activity and who was involved.

Thank you for representing the Agency and serving our communities!

New Drug Search Tool Now Available to Wellmark Members

Wellmark recently debuted a new drug search tool on wellmark.com. The tool is an online guide to prescription drugs covered by each plan’s formulary. Wellmark believes that when you understand what’s covered and how it’s covered, you can make better decisions at the pharmacy. Learn more by viewing this flyer. 

The drug search tool features:

• An easy search by drug name or category
• Tier or level information, including drug equivalents and alternatives
• Coverage details, like prior authorization and quantity limits
• Drug details, including a photo of the drug

The tool does not list drug price. To find the price of a certain drug, members can use Wellmark’s Drug Cost and Coverage tool available on myWellmark.

Special Aug. 29 Board of Director Meeting Agenda Available

The agenda for the special Aug. 29, 2017 Heartland AEA Board of Directors meeting is available. 

Reminder: Registration Now Open for Teacher Quality Courses & Study Groups

Registration for Teacher Quality courses and study groups begins today and ends Sept. 15, 2017. The list of courses and study groups being offered is now available. Teacher Quality (TQ) courses and study groups meet for 15 hours off contract time, and participants are eligible for a stipend upon completion. New Certified staff members are eligible to sign up for these opportunities. The amount of the stipend is established after registration closes and does fluctuate from year to year. Over the last three years, participants were paid between $600 and $640 to participate in a course or study group, which will be offered from Oct. 2017 through June 2018. 

A new option this year will allow staff members to develop their own study group proposals. Study groups must have at least four participants, and one participant must agree to be the facilitator. The content must align with Heartland AEA’s four goals or support a specific job-alike function. Use this form to indicate your interest in forming a study group. Study group proposals can be turned in Aug. 21 – Sept. 15, 2017. The Professional Development Office will work with interested participants in writing their study group proposal.  

Here is a frequently asked questions document that will help answer questions. 

If you have any other questions, contact Kevin Fangman, Chief Academic Officer. 

Reminder: Updated Guidance Available About Creating, Reviewing and Revising FBAs & BIPs

Information related to creating, reviewing and revising a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) or Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) that was included in the July 1, 2017, Area Education Agency Special Education Procedures and Release Notes reflected the best understanding at that time of how the Web IEP system would work for FBAs and BIPs during 2017-18 school year. Due to changes in programming, that information is now incorrect. Please use this corrected FBA/BIP document as a guide for creating, reviewing and revising FBAs and BIPs.