Smart Character Choices began in the fall of 2002 when Charyl Stockwell Academy was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Safe and Drug Free Schools office to develop, research, and refine an effective character education program.  They recognized a need for schools to play a vital role in deliberately and consistently teaching students positive character traits and in aligning the efforts of parents/family members collectively in that endeavor. The goal of that project was to develop, test, and refine an effective, scientifically-based character education program that embeds character education into the fabric of schools.

To date eleven schools across the state of Michigan have been involved in the development and implementation of Smart Character Choices.