The Channel

The 2025 All-Staff Kickoff meeting will be held on Monday, August 18. Please add this date to your calendar. The meeting will take place at the Cedar Falls office, and all Central Rivers AEA employees are required to attend. More details will be available in August’s edition of The Channel.

Summer office hours went into effect on Monday, June 2 and offices will be open 7:30 am – 4:00 pm. A reminder to all Central Rivers AEA staff that all CRAEA offices will be closed on Fridays in June and July. Regular office hours of 8:00 am – 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday, will resume on Monday, August 4.

As decisions are made over the summer, we’ll share updates as needed. Please be sure to check your email at least once a week to stay informed and respond to any requests in a timely manner. Also, don’t forget to update your voicemail and email with an out-of-office message or note about limited availability if you’ll be away. Enjoy your summer!

As an agency, we want to communicate with our staff as efficiently and effectively as possible. As we wind down the school year and begin planning for next year, we would appreciate your feedback* on this brief survey – *responding should take less than 10 minutes! Results will be used to refine our communication practices going forward. Please reach out to Beth Strike, Director of Communications & Creative Services if you have questions.

The May retirement celebration/All-Staff meeting recording can be viewed online. Congrats to our retirees!

• Zoom recording
• Padlet responses: What is something you are celebrating from this year?

The Human Resources team is continuing its work to support consistency across the AEA system. As part of this effort, the following job descriptions have been developed and are now being used system-wide:

• Occupational Therapist
• Physical Therapist
• School Social Worker
• Speech-Language Pathologist
• Special Education Consultant
• School Psychologist

HR will continue this work in the coming year by creating additional system-wide job descriptions.

We would like to welcome 13 incoming staff members for the 2025-26 school year!

Mark your calendars for the 2025-26 school year sector and discipline meetings! All meetings will be held in-person at each Central Rivers AEA office:

• Monday, August 18: All-Staff meeting (Cedar Falls)
• Friday, November 7: Sector and Discipline meetings (Cedar Falls, Marshalltown & Clear Lake offices)
• Friday, February 27: Sector and Discipline meetings (Cedar Falls, Marshalltown & Clear Lake offices)
• Wednesday, April 29: Sector and Discipline meetings (Cedar Falls, Marshalltown & Clear Lake offices)

An additional agency-wide meeting will be scheduled at a later date to honor retirees and celebrate the end of the school year. Additional discipline-specific meeting dates will be communicated by your team lead(s). Questions? Please contact your Regional Administrator.

Personalized coaching support available

Would you like support in getting more of what you want and less of what you don’t in your personal or professional life? If so, Central Rivers AEA offers 1:1 core energy leadership coaching sessions* with certified well-being coach, Dr. Leslie Moore, via Zoom. All sessions are confidential and scheduled by you when you send Dr. Moore a Google Calendar invitation. Just select “private” on the calendar invite. Reach out to Dr. Leslie Moore with questions. *Sessions are available now through June 24!

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If you would like to receive weekly emails that support your personal and professional leadership, join ESSDACK’s INspired weekly mailing list. You can also sign up to receive their INspired Leadership blog.

Early ACCESS & Special Education Harvest entries: 

• Time for June, July and August may be entered at the end of each month (this means if you provide ESY, EA services or child find activities during the summer, you will enter them in Harvest at the end of each month). 
• You do not need to enter weeks with zero hours during the summer months.
• We encourage all staff to stay current with Harvest entries as needed throughout the summer to support accurate documentation and reduce a backlog. Weekly time entry expectations will resume when the new school year begins.

Live documents, helpful resources and guides can be found on our staff website.

• Special Education Updates
• Updates with CRAEA Special Education doc (this will include every update from editions of The Channel)

Educational Services Harvest Entries: As the year concludes, we’ll be finalizing Harvest submissions, approvals and quarterly reports. Please ensure all weekly entries through June are submitted, even for weeks with no time to record. Key deadlines are as follows:

Quarter Four:

• Ends on June 30.
• All staff expected to have submissions completed prior to being off contract for the summer or no later than July 2, 2025.
• Regional Administrators have approvals completed by July 11 (12:00 pm).
• July 14-15: Office staff review for errors.
• July 16-18: Business office/office staff create reports.
• Quarterly reports/summaries will go out on July 18 or July 21.

Live documents, helpful resources and guides can be found on our staff website.

• Ed Services/Media Updates
• Updates with CRAEA Ed Services & Media doc (this will include every update from editions of The Channel)