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

Heartland AEA COVID-19 Dashboard for the Week Ending Nov. 20, 2020

We will provide you with COVID-19 case and quarantine data each Monday in The Connection. The numbers will fluctuate on a weekly basis, and our report will show what is current as of the previous Friday. If you have any questions, contact Nia Chiaramonte, Director of Human Resources. Thank you for your continued cooperation and flexibility as we work together to support children, students, families, educators and each other throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Reminder: Register to Build Connection and Community in a Listening Circle

With the crisis of the current pandemic, there has been an increased awareness of the stressors faced by ALL our staff and the need to provide quality supports. One of the supports we are making available for our staff, starting in November, is Listening Circles. 

The goal is to create a brave space for staff to be heard, free of judgment, and with no fear of consequences for speaking their truth. It is believed that this practice will be helpful for building and maintaining a healthy community in which ALL staff feels connected and respected. Listening circles have been scheduled at various times throughout the day to accommodate as many schedules as possible.  

Facilitators

The first and second facilitators for each of the sessions (as they stand today) are listed below. 

Nov. 24, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.                  Dave Wood & Emily Donovan 

Nov. 30, 8:30 - 10:00 a.m.                Stacey Warren & TBD 

Dec. 1, 2:30 - 4:00 p.m.                    TBD & TBD 

Dec. 7, 8:00 - 9:30 a.m.                    Dorothy Landon & Jean Boger 

Dec. 8, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.                Jean Boger & Brianna Sayre-Geiser 

Dec. 9, 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.        Andrea Matheson & Aimee Schuppe 

Dec. 14, 8:00 - 9:30 a.m.                 Rebecca Carver & Kari Miller 

Dec. 16, 2:30 - 4:00 p.m.                 Aimee Schuppe & TBD 

Dec. 17 2:30 - 4:00 p.m.                  Jay Boens & TBD 

Brenda Gerdes (SEBMH/Prof. Learning & Leadership Consultant/JO) lends her encouragement to staff to register for a session. 

“I know you have likely heard about Heartland AEA providing Listening Circles. I wanted to tell you I just participated in a practice circle, and while it was only a practice, I was very surprised how helpful it was. This first round of circles will focus on the pandemic and how it has had an impact on us directly as well as vicariously. If you are curious or on the fence about participating, I want to encourage you to take the plunge and register for one. They are not therapy sessions or admiring problems sessions, and it truly felt relieving to share even with colleagues I didn't know very well.” 

Listening Circles Flyer 

Registration

Process for Communicating Inclement Weather Office Closings & Course Cancellations; Ensure Your Phone Number is Current in Employee Online

As we approach winter, we want to remind you of how our agency communicates about inclement weather office closings and course cancellations (in addition to any other type of emergency situation).





Inclement Weather 


Heartland AEA offices will typically remain open unless all schools in a region are closed and travel is not recommended—which we know does happen. In preparation for the possibility of office closings and professional learning course cancellations, read below for the process the Agency uses to communicate about closings, cancellations and delays.



  

• First, read the Agency’s Inclement Weather Policy, which can be found in the Staff Handbook in Section 11:16. If you have any questions about the Inclement Weather policy, contact Nia Chiaramonte, Director of Human Resources.



  
• Second, remember that the Temporary Remote Workplace Program can be used in extraordinary circumstances with supervisor approval. More information about the program can be found in the Staff Handbook in Section 3:4. In an inclement weather circumstance, staff members who complete timesheets have the option of taking unpaid leave, even if they have other leaves available.  

  
• Third, make sure your phone information is up-to-date in Employee Online, so you will be notified of office closings. If you are a new staff member or have a new phone number, you will receive a message from the short code 67587 asking if you’d like to opt-in to receive messages from SchoolMessenger. Reply “Yes” to receive those messages.  


Communicating Office Closures 





The Agency uses the following methods to notify staff members of office closures due to inclement weather or another emergency.   
 

• SchoolMessenger: We will send text and email messages through SchoolMessenger (an online notification system) to only those staff members who are assigned to offices that close.
• Website: We will post closing information on the front page of the Agency’s website.    
• Social Media: We will post closing information on the Agency's Facebook and Twitter accounts.  


Communicating Professional Learning Class Cancellations  



If a professional learning class or activity is canceled, the cancellation will be communicated via the agency website and social media.  





If you have any questions about inclement weather communications, contact Courtney Croatt, Communications Specialist, at ext. 14474.

Coming on Dec. 1: A New and Improved Heartland AEA Website!

We are very excited to announce the launch of the Agency’s redesigned website on Dec. 1, 2020. The new site will be easier to navigate, more user-friendly and quite graphically pleasing!

As a partner in education, it’s important for us to make information regarding our services and supports easily accessible for educators, students and families. We strive to provide our partners with the most accurate, up-to-date information and share our knowledge and expertise in education. Our goal with the redesigned website is to provide visitors an easier way to learn about Heartland AEA’s services and to browse information based on their own choices. 

The new website gives better access to: 

• Professional Learning opportunities
 
• Library & Digital resources 
 
• Creative Services materials and online ordering
 
• Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment supports
 
• Special Education services
 
• Family supports
 

The website also features:

• Enhanced web accessibility for those who use screen readers
• A responsive design that allows the site to be accessible on mobile devices
• Integrated social media buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn 

If you have any questions about the launch of the new site or would like to know more information, contact the Communications Department.

Have You Completed Your Online ALICE Training for 2020-21?

As Heartland AEA continues to make improvements in our agency’s safety and security, all staff are required to complete the online ALICE training once each school year. By the end of the 2020-21 school year (June 30, 2021), all Heartland AEA staff members should take the hour-long online training to become familiar with the ALICE program and the techniques it teaches in response to an armed intruder event.  







ALICE stands for:    

• Alert: Get the word out! “Armed Intruder in building” instead of “Code Red,” or “Bring the purple folder to the office.” Use clear, concise language to convey the type and location of the event.    
• Lockdown: Good starting point. We will continue to lockdown in secure areas.    
• Inform: Communication keeps the intruder off balance and allows for good decision-making. 
• Counter: Apply skills to distract, confuse and gain control.    
• Evacuate: Reduce the number of potential targets for the intruder and reduce chances of victims resulting from friendly fire when help arrives.    

In short, using the ALICE method will give you more tools to use in the event of an armed intruder/active shooter. We want to provide you with the knowledge that if faced with a life or death situation there are methods that can be applied to enhance your chance of survival. 

 

 



Again, you are expected to complete the ALICE online training by the end of June 2021.   



The training has been assigned to all Heartland AEA employees in the AEA Learning Online Learning System. 

To access the training:  

• Visit the AEA Learning Online training site. 
• Enter the email and password used for your AEA Login and click log in. 

Assistance 

If you need assistance accessing the site, contact: 

Carol Naylor, Professional Learning Registrar


If you have any questions about the training or the ALICE program in general, contact 

Dustin Gean, Operations Manager

Emergency Response & Safety Team Lead and Certified ALICE Trainer

Iowa Department of Education Releases Annual Condition of Education Report

Last week the Iowa Department of Education released the latest edition of its annual report containing state-level data and information on Iowa’s schools. 

The Annual Condition of Education report includes data on preschool-through-12th grade student populations and demographics, academic achievement, postsecondary enrollment and completion, teacher and school administrator characteristics and salaries and school financial information. 

Additionally, an online companion to the Condition of Education report allows education stakeholders to dig deeper into interactive enrollment and staffing data at the state and school district levels. A new feature this year includes information on high school course-taking for the graduating classes of 2019 and 2020 across selected courses: algebra II, higher-level mathematics, physics, high-quality computer science and world languages.  

“This report provides a roadmap to see where we are as a state, what things we want to change and what we can anticipate in the coming years,” said Ann Lebo, director of the Iowa Department of Education. “Data and information are critical tools used to help set the course for school improvement, but they do not tell the whole story. It is important for Iowans to connect with their schools to learn more information.” 

The Condition of Education report includes the most recent data through the 2019-20 school year, unless otherwise noted. Highlights from this year’s report include: 

• 25.7%: For the first time, slightly more than one in four Iowa students is a minority student. Students of color make up 25.7 percent of the student population in Iowa school districts, up from 24.9 percent last year. 
• 42.4%: The percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, down slightly from 43.0 percent the year before. 
• 37,567: The number of full-time teachers in public schools in 2019-20, up from 37,386 the year before. There was an 11.8 percent increase in the number of full-time public school teachers from the 2000-01 school year (33,610) to the 2019-20 school year (37,567). 
• $58,110: The average regular teacher salary, up from $57,463 in 2018-19. 
• 6.5%: The percent of students whose native language is not English (English learners), virtually unchanged from the year before. 
• 48.6%: The percent of students from Iowa’s class of 2020 who took higher-level mathematics, including calculus, statistics and trigonometry. This is up from 47.9 percent the year before. 
• 88.1%: The percent of students from Iowa’s class of 2020 who took at least one world language course, up from 85.6 percent the year before. 
• $10,738: The state’s total per-pupil expense in the 2018-19 school year, up from $10,536 the year before.  
• Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Iowa Department of Education received approval from the U.S. Department of Education waiving the requirements to administer all federally-required assessments in the 2019-20 school year. As such, the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress was not administered this past spring and, therefore, no data is available to report for the 2019-20 school year.

Reminder: Time’s Running Out! Have You Signed Up for the Dependent Care Plan Yet?

If you DO NOT want to enroll, do nothing! (In the past, non-enrollees had to enter a $0 amount).   

Online enrollment for the 2021 Dependent Care Flex benefit plan will be open to eligible employees from Sunday, Nov. 1 through Monday, Nov. 30, 2020, at 4 p.m.  

Full-time employees and Certified Union employees working a 96-day contract are eligible to participate. Eligible part-time CU employees with a 96-day contract must contact Juliette Houseman to enroll via paper.

 


Dependent Care Flex is a pre-tax benefit account used to pay for eligible dependent care services, such as preschool, summer day camp, before or after school programs and child or adult daycare that you incur in order to allow you (and your spouse, if married) to work. If married, both spouses must be working to claim dependent care expenses. 

A dependent is defined as:   

• A dependent of the employee who is under 13 years of age  
• A dependent or spouse who is physically or mentally disabled  

The maximum amount your family may flex per calendar year is $5,000 ($208.33 per pay period). 
All dependent care expenses for the 2021 plan year must be incurred by Dec. 31, 2021, and must be submitted to 121 Benefits for reimbursement by March 1, 2022. 

To Enroll 

Log in to Employee Online.

For more detailed instructions and screenshots to guide you through Enrollment, view How to Enroll in Dependent Care. 




NOTE: IF YOU ENTER AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN “0” IN EMPLOYEE COST PER PERIOD, THEN THAT AMOUNT WILL BE DEDUCTED FROM YOUR PAYCHECK PER PAY PERIOD. 





If you have any questions, contact Juliette Houseman, Benefits Specialist, at ext. 14315.

Nov. 24 Board of Directors Meeting Agenda Available

The agenda for the Nov. 24 Heartland AEA Board of Directors Meeting is available.