






Unlock the power of Executive Function: empowering educators to ignite student success
Calling all PreK-12 teachers, administrators, paraeducators and families! Help your students build lifelong skills to stay focused, organized and ready to learn. Join us on June 3 (Cedar Falls), June 9 (Clear Lake) or June 10 (Marshalltown) for the Executive Functions workshop. You’ll leave with simple, practical strategies you can use right away at school and at home. Register online today!
Learn more!Congratulations to the 2025-26 Paraeducator ABC Award nominees!
The Central Rivers AEA ABC Paraeducator Award honors those who go above and beyond. Congratulations to our 2025-26 nominees! Thank you for the care, support and heart you bring to students every day. See the full list of honorees online.
Learn more!Make a difference in Iowa schools – Join our team!
Are you ready to make a real impact on students, educators and schools across Iowa? Central Rivers AEA is hiring! This isn’t just a job – it’s a chance to change lives and shape the future, one relationship at a time. Join a passionate team dedicated to empowering students and supporting educators. Explore our openings and start your career with purpose. Apply today on our careers page!
Learn more!Unlock the power of Executive Function: empowering educators to ignite student success
Calling all PreK-12 teachers, administrators, paraeducators and families! Help your students build lifelong skills to stay focused, organized and ready to learn. Join us on June 3 (Cedar Falls), June 9 (Clear Lake) or June 10 (Marshalltown) for the Executive Functions workshop. You’ll leave with simple, practical strategies you can use right away at school and at home. Register online today!
Learn more!Congratulations to the 2025-26 Paraeducator ABC Award nominees!
The Central Rivers AEA ABC Paraeducator Award honors those who go above and beyond. Congratulations to our 2025-26 nominees! Thank you for the care, support and heart you bring to students every day. See the full list of honorees online.
Learn more!Make a difference in Iowa schools – Join our team!
Are you ready to make a real impact on students, educators and schools across Iowa? Central Rivers AEA is hiring! This isn’t just a job – it’s a chance to change lives and shape the future, one relationship at a time. Join a passionate team dedicated to empowering students and supporting educators. Explore our openings and start your career with purpose. Apply today on our careers page!
Learn more!Unlock the power of Executive Function: empowering educators to ignite student success
Calling all PreK-12 teachers, administrators, paraeducators and families! Help your students build lifelong skills to stay focused, organized and ready to learn. Join us on June 3 (Cedar Falls), June 9 (Clear Lake) or June 10 (Marshalltown) for the Executive Functions workshop. You’ll leave with simple, practical strategies you can use right away at school and at home. Register online today!
Learn more!Congratulations to the 2025-26 Paraeducator ABC Award nominees!
The Central Rivers AEA ABC Paraeducator Award honors those who go above and beyond. Congratulations to our 2025-26 nominees! Thank you for the care, support and heart you bring to students every day. See the full list of honorees online.
Learn more!Current Job Openings
Executive Functions Workshop
2025-26 ABC Paraeducator Award
Upcoming Events
Event Calendar
Iowa Association of Area Education Agencies (IAAEA) seeks higher ed partner to offer graduate credit for professional learning
The Iowa Association of Area Education Agencies (IAAEA) is seeking proposals from higher education entities to provide graduate credit for… Continue reading Home
Agency News
All NewsHow we help educators, students & families
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Scope of Options
We offer a variety of solutions designed to tackle different challenges in education. Let us support you in overcoming hurdles and reaching your goals.
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Customization
We collaborate with school districts to tailor support through their district service plans, ensuring solutions that fit each district's specific needs and goals.
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Excellence
Excellence is not a buzzword at Central Rivers AEA, it's part of our DNA as an organization. We recruit and retain highly qualified team members with a passion for service.
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Leadership & Service
We both respond to district requests and create opportunities never thought of before. Our dedication extends to every last student we serve.
In honor of Occupational Therapy Month, we celebrated with a fun and meaningful project at Saint Ansgar Community School District! 🐰🎉
Two special education students, Jase (9th grade) and Grady (6th), teamed up with our Central Rivers AEA occupational therapy staff to take on the role... of Easter bunnies. They worked on fine motor skills and task completion by stuffing Easter eggs – with a little help from Special Ed teacher Mr. Sullivan, who made sure the candy passed quality control! 👏
Then came the best part: spreading smiles around the school! Jase and Grady practiced social skills by greeting students and staff as they handed out eggs – even delivering one to elementary principal Mr. Jered Osgood.
Way to go, Jase and Grady! 🙌 #CRAEA #iaedchat #OccupationalTherapyMonth #EveryDayAtAEA
Happy School Library Month! 📚 Today, teacher librarians from across the area gathered – both in person and via Zoom – to explore Central Rivers AEA’s new online catalog, Insignia, and dive into digital tools like PebbleGo and Britannica School. 🙌
They also discovered ways ...assistive technology (AI) can help curate collections and spark student engagement. Huge thanks to our amazing librarians for inspiring a love of reading and sparking curiosity in every student! 👏
#CRAEA #EveryDayAtAEA #iaedchat #SchoolLibraryMonth
Big thanks to everyone who took part in this year’s Central Rivers AEA Media Madness Goldfinch Children's Picture Bracket fun! The goal? To promote literacy, spark excitement about reading and engage young readers in a fun, interactive way — and it worked! 👏
We kicked things ...off with 32 amazing books and let the students take it from there. After 37 classrooms voted and the dust settled… we have a winner! 🏆
𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙚 & 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖: 𝘼 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚-𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 took the crown with 70.3% of the vote. The final round was a tough call – both books were fantastic – but the students have spoken.
We’re already excited to see what next year's bracket brings! 📚💥
#CRAEA #iaedchat #MediaMadness #studentvoicesmatter
Students had a blast at the recent Hawkeye Community College Transition Fair! 🎉
They explored future opportunities and connected with peers from Cedar Falls, Denver, Dunkerton, East Buchanan, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, Grundy Center, Hudson, Independence, Jesup, Nashua-Plainfield, ...Sumner-Fredericksburg, Tripoli, Union, Waterloo, Wapsie Valley and Waverly-Shell Rock CSDs.
While students were in sessions, teachers met with community partners like Iowa Total Care, Larrabee Center, North Star Community Services, UnityPoint Health and others — gathering helpful tools and ideas to support students on their next steps. 🙌
A big thank you to everyone who made the event possible! 👏
Next up: A two-day Transition Fair at @niacc_trojans at the end of this month. Stay tuned!
#CRAEA #iaedchat #studenttransitionfair #communitycollaboration
The North Central Iowa STEM Region Festival lit up the Mason City Community School District High School Fieldhouse with hands-on fun and curious minds! 💡🚀 Kids explored everything from robotics and coding to live animals and 3D design.
A special shoutout to our Central Rivers AEA ...team for bringing the StarLab portable planetarium — a crowd favorite that gave students a glimpse of the night sky indoors! 🌌✨
And big thanks to all the amazing exhibitors who helped make it possible: AgVantage FS, Bergland + Cram, Cerro Gordo Clean Energy District, Lime Creek Nature Center/Cerro Gordo County Conservation Board, Cargill and the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum. You brought learning to life! 🙌
#NorthIowaSTEM #CRAEA #FutureInnovators #iaedchat
Students had a great time at the recent Transition Fair hosted at Marshalltown Community College (Iowa Valley Community College District)! 👏
They explored future opportunities alongside peers from Marshalltown Community School District, South Tama County Community School District, BCLUW... Community Schools, Eldora-New Providence and GMG Community Schools. 🙌
While students were in sessions, teachers connected with community partners like HHS, IVRS, Proteus and more – gathering valuable resources to support their students’ journeys. 👏
Huge thanks to everyone who made the day a success!
Next up: Transition Fairs at Hawkeye Community College and NIACC later this month — stay tuned!
#CRAEA #iaedchat #studenttransitionfair #communitycollaboration
What we are proud of
Top Iowa Workplace
We were a Des Moines Register Top Workplace two years in a row.
90%
of local educators say Central Rivers AEA special education services are "meeting or exceeding" expectations.
96%
of local educators say that Central Rivers AEA Future Ready supports are "meeting or exceeding" expectations.
98%
of local educators say that Central Rivers AEA Media and Creative Services are "meeting or exceeding" expectations.
"The AEA staff members who work with my district have been extremely helpful across the board...answering questions specific to content areas, helping with technology implementation, analyzing and using student data, and implementing Social and Emotional Learning structures."