Welcome Back

On behalf of Heartland Area Education Agency, I’d like to extend a warm 'welcome back' to all of you. I hope you join me in my excitement for the start of another school year, and look forward to the opportunity to partner together to make a positive impact on students—all 140,000 of them in Heartland’s service area.

I invite you to take interest in this Heartland AEA Administrator Connection blog. The Administrator Connection is updated every Friday (excluding holidays and summer vacation) to inform area superintendents, principals, curriculum directors and other school leaders of important announcements, agency news, professional development opportunities and other key information items. Please consider using the Administrator Connection as a means of exchanging ideas, offering feedback and sharing information with each other.

To our superintendent colleagues, we invite you to join us for our monthly Heartland Administrator Association (HAA) meetings. The meetings are a time to learn together, collaborate and exchange information around contemporary educational issues. The meetings are held at the Heartland AEA Johnston Regional Education Center from 9:00 to 11:50 a.m. on the first Tuesday of every month. This year’s first HAA meeting will be on September 4, 2012.

At Heartland AEA, we will do our best to be a valued partner with you in our joint efforts to assure quality outcomes for those we serve. Please do not hesitate to contact your regional director or me with questions, comments and suggestions at any time.

Best regards,

Paula Vincent

Chief Administrator

Heartland AEA's Annual Progress Report Now Available

The Agency's Annual Progress Report (APR) for the 2010-2011 school year is now available. Click here for the report. You can also access the report via the Agency's website by clicking on the "About Us" link in the upper left-hand side of the homepage and then scrolling down to “Annual Progress Report.”

New Heartland AEA Comic Video Highlights Services

The graphic/comic book novel approach has generated super high "readership" for Web-based documents. We took that approach to make a short video that highlights how Heartland AEA makes an impact for the teachers we serve. Click here to see the video. Please help us share this video with teachers, parents and community members wanting to know a little more about how our Agency works with educators.

Internet Connectivity Through Heartland AEA

Heartland AEA area schools are relying more and more each year on Internet connectivity to provide a 21st Century education to their students, and their need for bandwidth is growing exponentially. An important service provided by Heartland AEA is Internet access, which is offered free to all of our districts. While some districts choose to use other providers, Heartland AEA and the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) work together to provide Internet access to 45 of our school districts and several of our private schools. 

As noted earlier, the demand for bandwidth has been increasing rapidly over the past decade. For the 2012-2013 school year, Heartland will be providing 2.5 gigabytes of Internet bandwidth at no cost to the participating schools, more than triple the 800 megabytes provided in 2011-2012.

If you would like to learn more about this service, contact Lance Wilhelm, Director of Technology, at lwilhelm@aea11.k12.ia.us or (515) 270-9030.

U.S. Dept. of Education Memo on Sequestration

Click here for a memo from the U.S. Department of Education regarding fund sequestration. The memo was e-mailed to area superintendents earlier this summer.

Iowa Dept. of Education to Offer TransAct® Notification System for all Iowa School Systems

The Iowa Department of Education is pleased to provide all school systems in Iowa with free access to the TransACT® parent notifications. Click here for more information. Click here for a schedule of basic user training sessions that were designed specifically for Iowa school districts.

Reminder: Users of Online Training Encouraged to Log In During Non-Peak Times

This year we have had a 125% increase in the number of users taking trainings on the statewide online training system. Unfortunately, this unexpected increase in usage has put a strain on our system and led to a frustrating user experience for district employees as the server is slow to respond. On Monday evening, we made some changes on the system to help with the issue, but the user experience has still been very slow. 

We have set a limit on the number of concurrent users to 100. For those who are logged in, the system will then run at a regular pace. However, once the limit has been met, users attempting to log in will see a screen informing them of the limit. We encourage users to complete trainings during non-peak times such as in the evening or weekends. Traditionally, the number of participants tapers off in two weeks (week of August 27), which would then be an easier time to log in and complete the trainings. 

Districts that have planned on having their entire staff complete the trainings together during beginning-of-the-year in-service dates are encouraged to make alternative options available to their staff. 

We thank you for your patience.

HEART Training for Administrators, August 23

We will hold a HEART Overview for Administrators training on August 23, 2012. The training is intended primarily for school administrators and/or clerical/technical staff who will have responsibility for managing the HEART database for their school/district. The training will cover the basics of using the HEART system to summarize data, security management, data importing, data cleanup and other issues related to managing the system. Training is intended for those new to the job, but is open to anyone who would like a refresher. Please pass this information on to those in your district who would benefit from the training. 

HEART Overview for Administrators 

August 23, 2012 1:00-3:30 p.m. 

Johnston REC, Computer Lab 

Click here to register or register through the Heartland AEA Professional Development Catalog and put activity number AS003792111302 in the correct field. 

If you have questions, please feel free to contact Connor Hood at chood@aea11.k12.ia.us or (800) 255-0405 ext. 14506.

Continuing Education for New School Nurses

Heartland AEA is offering an exciting online learning experience for new school nurses. Beginning September 3, the Moodle-based class will be open to all school nurses hired August 2011 or later. Registration is mandatory but the class is free. Credit toward nurse license renewal is optional for a flat fee of $15 dollars. Topics to be covered include:

• Nursing delegation of health procedures to paraprofessionals
• Instruction on how to write an individual health plan (IHP)
• Instructions on how to conduct health evaluations and screenings for special education
• Understanding special health services and the IEP
• Medicaid billing and the role of the school nurse
• Section 504 and the nurse as a team member
• Heartland AEA resources available to assist nurses 

Please pass on this opportunity to new school nurses. They may register here or go through our Professional Development catalog and enter activity number DR346899991301 in the correct field.

Inspire Children to Love Learning through the Project Approach

The Project Approach is an engaging and powerful way to teach children how to love learning. This four-part series, sponsored by the Mid-Iowa Chapter of Iowa AEYC, the Science Center of Iowa and Des Moines Business/Education Alliance, is designed to lead teachers step-by-step through the implementation of the Project Approach in the classroom. Graduate credit and teacher license renewal credit are available. Click here for a flier of dates and details.

Click here to register or register through our Professional Development catalog and enter activity number EC007899991301 in the correct field.

Student Invitation to the United State Senate Youth Program

“The 50th anniversary United States Senate Youth Program’s Washington Week was the most incredible week of my life.”
 - Scott Syroka (2011-12 Iowa Delegate from Johnston Community School District) 

 “The light we as delegates saw during the United States Senate Youth Program has motivated us to make change to bridge the divides within our society, and has ultimately inspired us to become tomorrow’s public servants.”
- Blake McGhghy (2011-12 Iowa Delegate from Keokuk Community School District) 

The state of Iowa has accepted an invitation to participate in the U.S. Senate Youth Program (USSYP), sponsored by the William Randolph Heart Foundation. The program is designed to give young Americans a working knowledge of American political life. 

Each year two Iowa students have the opportunity to spend a week in Washington, D.C. The William Randolph Heart Foundation pays all expenses. In addition, the two Iowa high school representatives each receive a $5,000 scholarship. 

Selection of the two Iowa high school representatives is based on the outstanding ability and demonstrated leadership qualities of elected junior and senior high school student officers for the 2012-13 school year.

Each high school may nominate up to three students. Student application materials are available on the Iowa Department of Education website at http://educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=939:ussenateyouthprogram&catid=671:advanced-learning-opportunities&Itemid=2738.

Completed applications should be submitted to Chris Jeffryes at Heartland AEA 11, 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston, IA 50131 by 4:00 p.m. on October 5, 2012. Nominees will take a qualifying examination on October 15 at 1:30 p.m. in Conference Room 13A at the Johnston AEA Regional Education Center on the U.S. Constitution and government. The award recipients will be announced in December. 

Contact Chris Jeffryes (chris_jeffryes@aea11.k12.ia.us) or Cheryl Mullenbach (Cheryl.Mullenbach@iowa.gov) for information.