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

Iowa Has Adopted New Early ACCESS Diagnosed Conditions Eligibility List

The state of Iowa has created its own "Iowa Early ACCESS Diagnosed Conditions Eligibility List" to use as a reference for which diagnosed conditions would (or would not) entitle a child for Early ACCESS services under the "known condition" criteria. This list will replace the Colorado List of Established Conditions going forward. 

A training has been prepared by the Child Health Specialty Clinics Early ACCESS Liaison to support the use and intention of this list, understanding diagnosed conditions and ways to submit new conditions for review to be added to the list in the future.  

The list can be accessed on the Iowa Family Support Network's website and is linked under the eligibility section. (It is recommended to bookmark this page for future reference).  

Two items of note in moving from Colorado's List to the Iowa List is that we use the term "diagnosed condition" rather than "known condition" and the list was revised to include the following conditions as eligible:  

1. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia requiring supplemental oxygen at discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit 
2. Cleft palate (prior to the operation to repair the cleft and up to one year post-operative) 
3. Congenital hypothyroidism 
4. Necrotizing enterocolitis requiring surgery 
5. Neurofibromatosis 
6. Noonan syndrome

July 2020 School Leader Update Available

The July 2020 School Leader Update from the Iowa Department of Education is available.

Have You Been Having Issues Logging into Employee Online? We Have a Workaround for Now

Multiple staff has reported receiving the message “redirected too many times,” when attempting to access Employee Online from the new Employee Dashboard. 

The Information Systems Department has contacted the Employee Online vendor for help to resolve the issue. In the meantime, the error can be resolved by quitting the web browser you’re using and logging back into the Employee Dashboard. 

To quit your web browser, click its name (Chrome, Firefox or Safari) in the Menu bar on your computer and then choose “Quit Google Chrome, Quit Firefox or Quit Safari.” Please note that clicking the red circle/"x" on the top left of the window does not quit the web browser.

Summer HeartBeat

Star Staff

Evelyn VanHouten-VanPelt (Special Education Consultant/AD) 

Evelyn has been an amazing support for us at North Ridge during the COVID-19 situation. She is seriously a lifesaver and a pure gem! 

- April Heitland, North Ridge Elementary principal, Dallas Center-Grimes Schools 

Devon Mau (Custodian/JO) and Dustin Gean (Operations Manager/JO) 

Thank you for keeping our Shelter Care staff and students safe through the work you’ve done over the summer. Your team has gone above and beyond to ensure that the Shelter Care Program is providing a clean, safe and healthy working and learning environment for our staff and learners. Our facility spaces look great and are ready for another great year of school! 

David Hammer (Multimedia Specialist/JO), Marquis Jones (Technology Support Specialist/JO), Aaron Cook (Multimedia Specialist/JO) and Tuan Dao (Senior Network Specialist/JO) 

Shelter Care summer school would not have been possible without the support of our amazing Heartland AEA technology experts. The work put forth to get our virtual summer school programming together utilized a team approach, and this team was collaborative, proactive, caring and responsive throughout the process. Thank you for your assistance with ensuring that students had access to learning at Shelter Care this summer! 

- Meredith Mauro (Shelter Care Administrator/YESS)

 

Name Changes 

Victoria Willoughby from Victoria Heisterkamp 

New Staff 

Kate Courtney (Regional Administrative Assistant/GC) 

Shannon Grundmeier (Family & Educator Coordinator/JO) 

Kim Herbold (Audiometrist/JO) 

Position Changes 

Nichole Coe to Professional Learning & Leadership Consultant from Early Childhood Special Education Consultant 

Kelsey Flynn to Early Childhood Special Education Consultant from Special Education Consultant 

Title Changes 

Tim Blakeslee to Professional Learning & Leadership Consultant from School Psychologist

Kris Gabrielson to Assistive Technology Specialist from Speech-Language Pathologist 

Berrett Rice to Assessment Consultant from School Psychologist 

Births 

Congratulations to Jackie Meyer Martin (Speech-Language Pathologist/JO) and her husband on the birth of their daughter, Kennedy Lynn Martin. Kennedy was born July 2 and weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 20 inches long. 

Congratulations to Meghan Rupiper (School Psychologist/JO) and her husband on the birth of their son, Leyton Nicholas Rupiper. Leyton was born June 26 and weighed 10 lbs. 8 oz. and was 21 1/4 inches long. He was welcomed home by his two big sisters. 

Congratulations to Mike Boneshefski (School Psychologist/JO) and his wife on the birth of their daughter Carolena “Lena” Boneshefski. Lena was born June 17 and weighed 6 lbs. and was 20 inches long. 

Congratulations to Nikki Reilly (School Social Worker/AD) and her husband on the birth of their daughter, Atlas “Attie” Mae Reilly. Attie was born June 17 and weighed 7lbs. 13oz. She was welcomed home by her two big brothers.