Year: 2010

Annalisa Miner and Lisa Wymore, AEA 267 Consultants for English Language Learners (ELL), provided the AEA 267 Board of Directors with an overview of ELL programming during their regular board meeting this month. The board found the following facts and statistics very enlightening! Did you know?

• There are 3,168 ELL students in our agency’s service area
• 43 public school districts have identified ELLs along with two non-publics
• ELLs represent 4.5% of the total enrollment
• 49 languages are spoken in school districts served by AEA 267
• Over 1,100 participants participated in ELL professional development provided by the agency in 2009-10
• Since 1991, the percentage of ELL students in our agency’s area has increased 564.7% or 1,976 students. Since 2001, growth has been closer to 80%.

Annalisa and Lisa do a tremendous job meeting the growing demand for services for this special population of students. Great work!

October is National Physical Therapy month! AEA 267 physical therapists work as part of an intradisciplinary educational team and provide expertise in the areas of mobility, independent skill building, assisted skills, educational and work activities, gross and visual motor development and so much more. If you see any of the AEA 267 physical therapists listed below, please thank them for the important role they play in our agency:

• Mandy Burns
• Robin Charlson
• Judith Dale
• Christa Kelly
• Jaymie Redfern
• Arlys Stevens
• Jamie Van Erem
• Karen Weltzin
• Sarah Schultes

Jennifer Davis, AEA 267 Speech Language Pathologist, will be awarded the Bingham Innovation Award by the Iowa Speech Language Hearing Foundation for her innovative plans to use iPods with students. A $500 cash prize will be given to Jennifer to go toward the purchase of two iPod Touch devices and related apps to be shared by the AEA 267 Speech and Language department. Congratulations, Jennifer!

AEA 267?s Julie Crotty, Consultant for Curriculum Development, will present a ticketed session on brain-based learning at the National Middle School conference next month in Baltimore, MD. Congratulations, Julie!

As of October 1, the agency will no longer rely on Snowcap as our announcement provider for text and email announcements. While Snowcap provided some additional options that served us well, unfortunately, reliability proved to be an issue. Instead of Snowcap, the agency will go back to using Iowa School Alerts, a free, state-hosted announcement system, which many of our school districts also use. If you previously were signed up to receive announcements through Snowcap, please take a few minutes sometime before October 1 to sign up with Iowa School Alerts at https://schoolalerts.iowa.gov/. Downloadable directions for those that want step-by-step directions are available here!

Please note that the Iowa School Alerts system sends emails to cell phones. If you do not have an email enabled phone, you will receive the message as a text. Dependent on your cell phone provider, you may or may not receive all of the message (due to length of message). You should check with your cell phone provider to see if you will be charged for any text messages you would receive (incoming text).

Questions? Contact Jerry Schnabel, Kerri Wilson or Beth Strike for more information.

Members of the AEA 267 crisis team were called into action last week when a long-time elementary teacher in the Grundy Center Community School District died suddenly. Tragically, the teacher was just 36 years old and both students and adults in the school system were understandably impacted. Crisis team members provided counsel and support within hours of receiving the call for help. This service continues to be of great value to schools and team members are to be commended for representing the agency so professionally. Thank you!

While the online searchable schools directory (including labels) is current and accessible, the hard copy of the Ed Directory is still being finalized. The directory begins printing September 13 and will be distributed to staff members in the weeks following. Questions? Contact Jan Alger, Secretary to Administration/Communication. The AEA Contact Manager system will be current with updated educator and staff contact information by the end of the month.

Are you lugging around a briefcase or purse that is straining your body? Cindy Campbell, Discipline Facilitator of Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, offers two great resources—one on briefcase and another on carry purse—from the American Occupational Therapy Association to consider as you start the school year.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met September 1, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. in the AEA 267 Conference Center in Cedar Falls for their regular meeting.

During the meeting, the board:

• Heard a review from Dr. Sara McInerny and Linda Martin of the Equity Workshop held at AEA 267 on April 23, 2010. Nearly 30 school districts attended the conference, which was designed around the expressed needs of the schools.
• Motioned to hire Danielle Clark, Teacher of Multi Disab/SCI (Janesville Jr/Sr High); Whitney DeVilbiss, Speech-Language Pathologist (Sector 6); Kathy Kline, Teacher of Multi Disabilities/SCI (SE Elementary, Waverly); Travis Schlenger, School Psychologist (Sector 1); Susan Jarnigan, School Psychologist (Sector 1); Rochelle Triggs, School Psychologist (Sector 1).
• Appointed board members as a delegate and an alternate to the IASB Delegate Assembly.
• Accepted the Excellence in Education Enrichment Grant from the R.J. McElroy Trust for $30,870. The agency serves as the fiscal agent for the grant and funds are disseminated directly to local schools for school improvement efforts.
• Conducted a public hearing regarding Acceptable Use Policy 101.4 and approved it with no changes for 2010-2011.
• Approved the renewal of Partner Contract with Exceptional Persons for provision of Early ACCESS services.
• Approved both the Orientation and Mobility Services Agreement and the Itinerant Teacher Services Agreement with Statewide System for Vision Services (SSVS).
• Approved the contract with the Iowa Juvenile Home for psychologist services.
• Heard the second reading of Board Policy #603.6 Capital Assets and approved the proposed policy change.

Heard a variety of reports from directors and fellow board members.