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
The 2019-20 Staff & Schools Directory is now available. You can also access it on the Intranet > Communications > Annual Publications or on our public website under About > Staff & Schools Directory.
With so many of our staff on the road during their workweeks, we wanted to pass along these tips for driving during harvest season.
From Kinze
Fall harvest season is upon us, so rural drivers can expect to share the road with large farm implements. It’s important for drivers and farm equipment operators to remain alert at all times and be considerate of each other. Here are some good driving tips to keep in mind during harvest season.
Tips for Rural Drivers
- Always be on the lookout for farm machinery. Remember it can unexpectedly turn onto public roads from a field or driveway.
- Farm machinery typically travels at 25 mph or less, so be prepared to slow down in order to avoid a rear-end collision.
- Keep a safe distance. This gives better visibility to both drivers and equipment operators.
- Allow adequate time and distance for farm equipment to make wide turns.
- Just because you see the equipment does not mean the equipment operator sees you.
Tips for Passing Farm Machinery
- Be sure the machinery is not turning left. Look for left turn lights or hand signals. If the machinery slows down and pulls toward the right side of the road, the operator may be preparing to make a wide left turn. Likewise, sometimes to make a wide right turn, the operator must fade to the left.
- Determine whether the road is wide enough for both your vehicle and the farm equipment.
- Check for roadside obstacles such as mailboxes, bridges or road signs that may cause the machinery to move to the center of the road.
- Be sure there is adequate distance for you to safely pass and be on the lookout for oncoming traffic.
Heartland AEA is partnering with an advisory company, Fiducius (formerly IS Loan Solutions), to help school employees improve their student loan situations and overall financial well-being. All full-time Heartland AEA staff and school district staff (regardless of position) with student loans are encouraged to find out if this voluntary benefit can help them. They may qualify for loan forgiveness and refinancing to help lower or even eliminate loan payments.
Fiducius is a student loan advisory firm (not debt consolidator) that offers a voluntary student loan relief benefit that may be able to help staff with federal student loans, including Parent Plus Loans, reduce their monthly student loan payment and overall obligation. This benefit provides information to you about their potential for significant savings on student loan debt. This is a free, voluntary, no-obligation review and consultation for staff with student loans. If you want to take the relationship further and use Fiducius to implement a loan relief program on your behalf, there will be a fee to implement all of the necessary steps. The fee is based on the complexity of the student loan forgiveness strategy.
This program was first introduced to educational service agencies, such as AEAs, across the country through the Association of Educational Service Agencies’ (AESA) national consortium. Grant Wood AEA piloted the program in Iowa in 2016 and reported positive reviews. Heartland AEA has partnered with Fiducius since 2017.
Your education colleagues nationwide already working with Fiducius have reduced their monthly payments by an average of 84% and are projected to receive an average of $72,338 in tax-free loan forgiveness.
It’s easy to get started with this benefit. You can determine your eligibility and potential savings in just a few minutes and then talk with an advisor on the phone at your convenience, by using the following link:
Fiducius will fully educate you about all available options and provide a personalized Student Loan Financial Wellness Plan at no cost before you decide whether or not to use their services. As with other voluntary benefits, like life insurance, you only pay Fiducius when you choose to use their services.
Questions or trouble logging in? Call (513) 645-5400, email or visit their website for more information and success stories.
We're excited to announce the second year of Heartland AEA's participation in the State of Iowa Financial Fitness Challenge! This is a new and improved program with lots of financial classes and resources, and you no longer have to take a financial assessment!
Heartland AEA has been selected to participate in the Iowa State Financial Fitness Challenge, a unique program created in conjunction with the Financial Fitness Group and the State of Iowa Insurance Division. The program began on Sept. 10 and will run through Dec. 31, 2019. At that time, if the Iowa Insurance Division continues to fund the program for public entities, you’ll have access to the program through May 31, and we’ll communicate more in January.
Why is the Agency participating in the program?
Because we care about your financial future and want to extend to you every opportunity to be financially successful, we are rolling out this extended benefit to all employees. As an added bonus, you may also invite your family members and friends to participate, free of charge!
What exactly is the Financial Fitness Program?
The platform, Financial Fitness Academy, is designed to assess, educate and empower individuals to improve their overall financial health.
How do I get started?
On Sept. 10, you received an invitation email from the system to get started. Simply click on the link in the email, and you'll be up and running in just a few minutes. If you don't receive an email, contact Nia Chiaramonte, Director of Human Resources, to provide you a link to the program site. If you want to opt-out of further emails, there will be an opt-out link on the first and any subsequent email you receive.
What else should I know?
- This year the Financial Fitness Challenge is not an activity option to complete as part of the Wellness Program. While financial wellness is still a component of our Wellness Program, Financial Fitness is an independent module.
- All personally identifiable information provided is kept strictly confidential.
- You are able to customize your learning experience with educational materials to help you increase your financial knowledge and improve your unique financial situation.
- You may add as many courses as you wish, and you complete them in any order and at whatever pace is most convenient for you.
- The program may be accessed anywhere, anytime, as long as there is an Internet connection. You can use Macs, PCs, tablets, smartphones, etc.
- You can view and save certificates of completion as you pass courses.
- Each course starts with a pre-test and ends with a post-test. There is no minimum passing score for course pre-tests. The passing score for each course post-test is 70%. Course post-tests may be re-taken as many times as necessary.
- Each course takes up to 15 minutes to complete. We encourage you to take advantage of this amazing opportunity to strengthen your financial muscles!
Questions?
Contact Nia Chiaramonte, Director of Human Resources, at ext. 14534.
Good news – you can still go to your primary care physician (PCP) for your annual physical or visit your local Hy-Vee dietician to have your biometric screening done. You’ll just need to take the Interactive Health Physician form with you. You can find the form in your Interactive Health portal at the end of your health assessment. You can also contact Interactive Health to request your form.
On your Interactive Health portal home page, find “Schedule Your Health Evaluation-Schedule Now.”
Answer/Complete the information and select “Choose Location.”
Select a Health Evaluation Location and select “Next.”
Follow the final steps to get your form, print it and take it with you.
Already had your physical or biometric screening but didn’t use the form? No worries! Get your form from your Interactive Health portal or contact Interactive Health to receive a form. Then take it to wherever you had your screening completed, have the provider complete and sign the form and then mail it to Interactive Health. Once they receive your form, the information will be manually uploaded into your portal, usually within 2 days of receiving it.
If you have any questions about biometric screenings, contact Carol McDaniel, Human Resources Assistant.
ISASP Timeline for District Supports and Release of Student Results:
Pearson released the timeline for rolling out ISASP supports and results. This will be listed in the Bulletin Section of the ISASP Portal in the next few days. The Bulletin contains the following information:
- When performance level descriptors, cut scores and sample reports will be available
- Guidelines for accessing ISASP data (webinar)
- Interpretive manual and webinar for educators
- Interpretive information for families
- Overview of local support materials
- When ISASP results will be released to districts
- When the embargo is lifted and districts can publicly share results
Please note they will do a staggered release of information and tools and once schools get the results there will be an embargo on releasing the results for one week.
ISASP Update at Curriculum Network:
Iowa Testing Programs gave an update on Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) at the Heartland AEA Curriculum Network meeting on Oct. 4. The following information was covered in the presentation:
- Standard-setting methodology
- Performance level descriptors
- Cut scores for ELA, Math and Science
- Statewide results for ELA, Math and Science
For reference, this is the video recording of the presentation, Q & A document and ISASP Slides. The presentation is about 60 min. long. Iowa Testing will share a timeline for the release of the results in the next few days.
Many of you spend lots of time in the car for work or in our personal lives. Podcasts can be a perfect way to transform this otherwise unproductive drive time into an opportunity for learning or entertainment. Do you listen to podcasts for professional learning or fun?
Help the Instructional Technology team crowdsource a list of great podcasts! Use this Google Form to add your favorite podcasts to the list. Look in upcoming editions of The Connection for podcasts recommended by fellow Heartland AEA staff members.
