About the Carolina First Center for Excellence

The Carolina First Center for Excellence (CFCE), one of the Chamber Foundation’s premier programs, was formed in 2001 with the vision of providing every K-12 student in the Upstate with a Quality education. In 2002, CFCE introduced our Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) strategies into four Greenville County schools. Today, we are in nearly 40 schools throughout the state. CFCE changes the way teachers teach and students learn using Continuous Quality Improvement strategies.

As a result of the CQI strategies implemented by the CFCE, students have become more responsible for their learning, better critical thinkers and improved problem solvers. Our students are equipped with skills that prepare them for the next quiz, test, grade and on beyond school into life and the working world. As the workforce begins to shift its emphasis from labor to knowledge, it is vital to the success of our students that our education adapts accordingly.

Fortune 500 companies such as Lockheed, Fluor, GE, and Caterpillar, among many others, train their employees and manage their organizations using the same principles as CFCE teachers use in their classrooms. CFCE students learn about the importance of integrity, high performance and strong ethical behavior—all Quality traits necessary in the 21st Century workplace.

CQI strategies apply to the school principal on down to the youngest kindergarten student. Everyone in a Quality school is held to the same standard of personal responsibility, which has led to better student performance, academic achievement and classroom behavior in Carolina First Center for Excellence schools.

We are guided by the belief that people can always improve when they understand the measures by which they are being judged.

Want to learn more? Click here to listen to Michele Brinn, VP of Workforce Development and Education, talk to Mike Switzer about the Chamber Foundation's education programs. Please note, you must have compatible software for the audio to play. For additional information, visit the CFCE Blog at www.cfcequality.blogspot.com, click on one of the links to the left or call Michele Brinn at 864-239-3727 or Tami Miller at 864-239-3743.