Category: Uncategorized

The 2009 AEA 267 River Hills School Holiday Program will take place on Friday, December 11, at 9:30 a.m. In the event school is cancelled, the rescheduled date will be Monday, December 14, at the same time. The school is located at 2700 Grand Boulevard, Cedar Falls. AEA 267 River Hills School is a public sponsored special school for students with moderate, severe, and profound development disabilities. The school serves students from birth through age 21. It is operated by Area Education Agency 267 and funded through participating local school districts.

Please change your voicemail greeting and set an away message to your email during the holiday breaks so that callers and/or e-mailers will know when they can expect to hear from you.

Voicemail Example:

“Hello, this is (your name).  Our office will be closed beginning Friday, December 25 and reopen on Monday, January 4.  Please leave your name, telephone number and a detailed message and I will call when I return.  Thank you!”

Email Away Message Example:

Thank you for your email.  I will be out of the office beginning Friday, December 25 and return Monday, January 4 and will respond to your email upon my return.

If you need assistance with either task, please visit with your administrator.

The AEA 267 Board of Directors met at 6:00 p.m. on December 2, 2009 in the AEA 267 Conference Center for their regular meeting. (The board met at 3 p.m. for a retreat to discuss the budget, progress on the AEA 267 Clear Lake Office remodeling project and the AEA 267 River Hills boiler repair project.)

During their regular meeting, the board:

• Heard an update from Dr. Jon McKenzie, Director of Assessment and Comprehensive Improvement; and Dr. Carol Sensor, Special Ed Coordinator of Services Improvement and Special Programs, on the support programs provided by AEA 267 to Schools in Need of Assistance (SINA) and Districts in Need of Assistance (DINA).
• Motioned to hire Brynn Brass, Teacher of Multi Disab-SCI/Teacher of Early Childhood Sp. Ed. (Castle Hill).
• Approved the lease/purchase agreement with Larson Construction for the Clear Lake remodeling project.
• Approved the second reading of Board Policy No. 801.2: Use of Copyrighted Material Policy.
• Approved the second reading of Board Policy No. 703.1: Gifts to the Agency.
• Approved the purchase of a replacement boiler system for AEA 267 River Hills School.
• Approved the renewal of the agreement between the Early Childhood Programs of Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NICAC) and AEA 267.

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

Want more interesting trivia about our agency staff?

• We have approximately 175 vacancies a year.
• Women outnumber men in the Agency 7:1
• There are 46 certified staff with either a Doctorate or Ed Spec.
• 127 classified staff either have their BA degree or a Para Educator License

AEA 267 Teacher of Multi Disab SCI, Jamie Osterbuhr, was among nearly 80 Iowa educators nominated for an Excellence in Education Award sponsored by the Iowa State Education Association, the Farm Bureau, WHO Radio, Staples, and KDSM Fox 17.

According to the Allison Bristow CSD & Greene CSD newsletter, “The Bearcat Clause”, Osterbuhr was recognized as an educator who “goes above and beyond and touches her students lives in ways that she will probably never know.”

AEA 267 employees are eligible to receive a personal cell phone discount as part of a State of Iowa contract with four wireless service providers: AT&T, Sprint-Nextel, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon. Eligibility, discounts, and identification requirements vary with each cellular provider. For details go to the Iowa Educators Consortium (IEC) website and select Teacher and Student Discounts and see which provider has the best discount for your cell phone needs.

If you have already applied for a discount from U.S. Cellular and your e-mail address has come back as “invalid,” you can call (800) 819-9373 and reference the discount code you used when you applied for the discount (PED1008 or 4AB90). Contact Sue Hotzel at 319-268-7659 for further information.

Four AEA 267 employees ran in the IMT Des Moines marathon last month as part of a team that raised over $25,000 for the Ed Thomas Foundation. Thomas, a teacher and coach with the Aplington-Parkerburg Community School District, was gunned down in June, allegedly by a former student. The team, known as Team Thomas, was coordinated by AEA 267 Bremwood principal, Justin Stockdale, and his brother, Matt. Over 30 runners took part including Dr. Mary Stevens, AEA 267 Area Director of Special Education; Sarah Knudsen, AEA 267 Special Education Coordinator; and Beth Strike, AEA 267 Communication Specialist. Stevens, Kundsen and Strike participated in the half-marathon while Stockdale ran the full marathon. (Amazingly, Matt Stockdale ran the marathon twice within a nine-hour period as part of a promise to the team to motivate fund raising efforts!)