Check Out Our Wellness Inspiration Site: Shareable Resource For Educators, Families and Students

In an effort to support the well-being of districts, students, educators and families, we're pleased to bring you "Wellness Inspiration," a resource dedicated to well-being. Check out the Wellness Inspiration site for well-being resources, tips and fun and share with colleagues and families! This week features:

• Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education workshops
• Down Dog Fitness App
• Funnies

Dec. 2020 School Leader Update

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

State Education Board Adopts Revisions to Seclusion and Restraint Rules

The State Board of Education recently adopted revisions to Iowa administrative rules on seclusion and restraint (Chapter 103). The revised rules will go into effect on Jan. 20, 2021. In the December 2020 SAI Report, Matt Carver addresses the seclusion and restraint rules change on pages 4-5 (the revised Chapter 103 rules are linked in the first line of his article).

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

Thanksgiving Office Hours and Van Delivery

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, all Heartland AEA offices will be closed Nov. 26-27. Our van delivery schedule will be as follows:

• Regular delivery Nov. 23-24
• No delivery Nov. 25-27
• Regular delivery resumes Nov. 30

Heartland Administrators’ Association Dec. Meeting

The next Heartland Administrators’ Association (HAA) meeting is Dec. 1. The agenda and meeting materials can be found here. This meeting will be held via Zoom and have an in-person option. As a reminder, for those wishing to attend in-person, you will need to RSVP by Nov. 25 to Jenny Ugolini. Room capacity will be capped at 32 people, and mitigation efforts will be in place.

Heartland Administrators' Assoc. (HAA) Meeting
Dec. 1, 2020
9 - 11:30 a.m.
Via Zoom at this link: https://heartlandaea.zoom.us/j/708115455 OR
In-person Location: 6500 Corporate Dr., Johnston

Agenda

Have You Signed Up for the CARE Workshop?

Through the use of COVID-19 Relief Funds, made available by the State of Iowa and our partners at Polk County Health Services, Heartland AEA is offering an exciting opportunity to support educator well-being and resiliency building. 

As a result of the current pandemic, the stressors placed upon educators have been further magnified, with many lives significantly disrupted due to millions of students now at home, thousands of educators teaching from home, and entire families and communities living in isolation. ALL educational staff are facing a plethora of challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic. Schools may be shifting between online learning and in-person learning; educators are adapting to new schedules and different ways of teaching; and trying to meet the needs of their students, while also meeting the needs of their own family and friends.

CARE (Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education) workshops are unique, evidence-based professional development programs that help educators handle the stresses and rediscover the jobs of teaching. 

The goal of CARE is to: 

• Offer educators tools and resources for reducing stress, preventing burnout, enlivening teaching, and helping students thrive socially, emotionally and academically.

CARE introduces tools such as:

• Mindful awareness practices
• Caring and emotion skills training

Research shows that such practices are helpful for developing awareness, openness, emotional responsiveness and sensitivity - all essential qualities for modeling healthy behavior in the classroom and optimizing teaching and learning. By practicing the skills learned in the program, educators learn to cultivate calmness, awareness, presence, compassion, empathy and ability to listen. In the classroom these qualities improve teachers’ classroom management, curricular implementation and relationships with their students.

REGISTRATION
We will be offering separate sessions to meet the unique needs of administrators, educators and Heartland AEA staff. Registration is limited to 35 participants per session.

Administrator Session
Dec. 7 and 14; Jan. 14, 22, 27 and 29
8:30 - 10:30 a.m. 
Via Zoom 
Registration information is located at this link: https://bit.ly/3etfhFr Course 190771

Educator Session
Dec. 9 and 14; Jan. 13, 22, 27 and 29
8:30 - 10:30 a.m. 
Via Zoom 
Registration information is located at this link: https://bit.ly/3etfhFr Course 190771

AEA Staff Session
Dec. 9 and 14; Jan. 13, 22, 27, and 29
8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Via Zoom 

Registration information is located at this link: https://bit.ly/3etfhFr Course 190771

Heartland AEA Innovative Educators Facebook Group

The Heartland AEA Instructional Technology Consultants have created a new Facebook group to advance authentic technology integration and to inspire adult and student learners to innovate. You don't have to be working in technology to be a member of the group. All are welcome!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/heartlandaeainnovativeeducators


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

HEART Database to Sunset in Dec. 2020

Heartland AEA has been proud to provide the HEART Database to districts and schools for many years. Times and technology have changed significantly since we initially developed this resource. New tools are available to districts/schools, and the software used to build the database is now outdated and has become incompatible with some common computer operating systems.

Given the progress the state of Iowa has made in making other data systems available to districts/schools and the significant resources it would take to rebuild it, Heartland AEA will sunset the HEART Database on Dec. 31, 2020. If your district chooses to use HEART until Dec. 31, 2020, you can continue the import procedures you’ve been using to date.

School/District Decision Needed by Dec. 1, 2020
Heartland AEA will provide you with an export of up to the last seven years of the data you have in HEART, which you can use to import into a different system. If you would like a data export, contact Truong Dao anytime before Dec. 1, 2020, and you will be provided with the data in Jan. 2021.

Thank you for allowing Heartland AEA to partner with you. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at sking@heartlandaea.org or (800) 255-0405 ext. 14386.

Asking for Your Cooperation: Heartland AEA Mitigation Measures During Increasing COVID Numbers

As COVID case numbers are rising in Iowa, our agency leaders have been reviewing the mitigation measures our staff are expected to follow when working in school buildings and common settings. Our staff are routinely in and out of many locations and like you, we’re concerned about not only their safety, but the safety of your staff, students, and families as well. For that reason we are asking for your cooperation in helping us to prevent the spread of this virus and to keep everyone safer and in school.

Our staff members may begin to request that those children who can, wear a face covering while receiving services. If students are unable to wear a mask or face covering, we are also giving our staff permission to seek out ways to temporarily move to virtual service delivery in order to maintain safe social distancing. We do not intend to pressure or coerce students into wearing masks and we understand that IEPs need to be followed and that some students simply cannot wear a mask for a variety of reasons. However, because we are seeing an increase in cases in the larger community and in our staff, we want to make sure that as many people as possible involved in service delivery are safely masked. This will help us to prevent the spread of the virus and limit the number of adults and students needing to quarantine under current state guidance.

During this spike in quarantines and positive cases, we also continue to expect that adults wear masks when working with our staff. If this isn’t possible, we may in some cases request to temporarily meet virtually with administrators, teachers and parents as well.

As a reminder, below are the expectations we hold for Heartland AEA staff as they work in your buildings. Heartland AEA staff should be wearing a mask in the following situations:

• Upon entering a district building or community setting
• While in a building and moving through the building and/or
• When unable to maintain at least a 6-foot physical distance between themselves and others and
• Whenever required by districts, families and other partners
• While working directly with children and/or adults in close proximity

We understand that we are a service agency and not in the ultimatum business. We greatly desire to cooperate in a way that allows us to deliver the best possible service while keeping the maximum number of students and educators safe and in school. I only hope we can put this difficult time behind us as soon as possible. Thank you for any cooperation you can extend in helping us work to that end.