Character First Education

What Character First Education does

Character First Education (CFE) is a privately held, Edmond, Oklahoma-based curriculum publisher founded in 1992 as an internal leadership program at Kimray Inc. and spun out into public education in 1996. It has operated as a subsidiary of Strata Leadership LLC since a 2012 acquisition, and today markets itself as the world's largest character-based educational program with over 100,000 cumulative teachers, parents, and youth workers using its materials.

The company's product portfolio centers on three curriculum lines: the Elementary Character Curriculum for grades K-5 covering 30 distinct character qualities in a 7-page lesson format; the ENGAGE Bullying Prevention Curriculum for grades 5-12 with over 90 real-life scenarios; and the Embark Leadership Program for grades 5-12 covering service projects, scholarship, and emotional intelligence. Supporting products include Character Cards, posters, a 36-song Songbook with audio files, and a merchandise line (t-shirts, hoodies, bags, posters, stickers) produced through a partnership with Spring. All materials are secular, aligned with Common Core standards, and delivered primarily as PDF digital downloads with optional print versions.

Revenue is generated through a mix of one-time individual digital downloads ($4.99-$284.71) and annual, auto-renewing multi-user school licenses ranging $22.99 to $1,199.00. Distribution occurs through the company's own e-commerce storefront, Amazon marketplace for print editions, phone sales, and direct purchase-order processing for schools and districts. Free resources (sample downloads, the CharacterLibraries.com Online Learning Center) and content marketing drive top-of-funnel acquisition, while email and organic social support mid-funnel conversion. The company employs 11-50 people and reports no venture capital funding.

Name

Character First Education

Legal name

Character First Education

Website

https://characterfirsteducation.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Character First Education is a privately held Oklahoma-based publisher of secular, Common Core-aligned character education curricula for K-12 schools, homeschool families, and youth organizations, distributed via digital downloads, annual school licenses, Amazon, and a Spring merchandise partnership.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Curriculum

NAICS

Educational Services (61), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

K–12 Instructional Design & Curriculum Development Services (EDAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Domain-Specific Curriculum (Literacy, Numeracy, Science, SEL, Motor, Arts) (EDACAJAB), Comprehensive ECE Curriculum Frameworks (Birth–5) (EDACAJAA)

Keywords

• Character education curriculum
• Bullying prevention curriculum
• Leadership development curriculum
• K-12 educational resources
• Social emotional learning

Headquarters

HQ city

Edmond

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Digital Curriculum Downloads: One-time digital download purchases of curriculum materials for individual in-home use. Prices range from $9.99 to $284.71 depending on the product and character quality selected.
2. Annual School Licensing: Annual licensing subscriptions for schools that allow multi-user access across campuses. Digital downloads include permission to store and print for teachers and students on campus. License renews automatically until canceled. School pricing ranges from $22.99 to $1,199.00.
3. ENGAGE Curriculum Annual License: Annual school licensing at $249.00 for bullying prevention curriculum. Renews automatically until canceled.
4. Embark Program Annual License: Annual school licensing at $495.00 for leadership development curriculum. Includes campus-wide license for printing copies needed on school campus.
5. Print Products via Amazon: Physical print versions of curriculum sold through Amazon marketplace, including softcover books and songbooks.
6. Merchandise Products: Branded merchandise including t-shirts, hoodies, bags, posters, and stickers sold through partnership with Spring. Orders ship from a third-party organization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Character First Education develops and sells research-based, secular character education curriculum for K-12 schools, homeschool families, and youth organizations. The portfolio comprises the Elementary Character Curriculum (grades K-5) covering 30 character qualities, the ENGAGE Bullying Prevention Curriculum (grades 5-12), and the Embark Leadership Program (grades 5-12), all delivered as digital PDF downloads with optional annual campus-wide school licensing and supplementary add-ons (character cards, posters, songbook/audio files).

Product overview

Character First Education offers a suite of character-based educational programs for schools and families. The core product portfolio includes the Elementary Character Curriculum (K-5) covering 30 character traits, the Embark Leadership Program (grades 5-12) for developing student leadership potential, and the ENGAGE Bullying Prevention Curriculum (grades 5-12). Supporting add-on products include Character Cards, posters, and Songbook/Audio Files. All materials are secular and aligned with Common Core educational standards. Products are available as digital downloads for individual in-home use or as annual school licenses for campus-wide deployment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Elementary Character Curriculum A comprehensive character education curriculum for grades K-5 covering 30 character qualities (Attentiveness, Honesty, Respect, Self-Control, etc.) in an easy-to-use 7-page format with approximately 3 hours of instructional material per quality. Available as one-time digital download for individual in-home use ($9.99–$284.71) and as annual school licensing for campus-wide multi-user access ($22.99–$1,199.00). Designed for teachers, schools, homeschool families, and youth organizations.
• ENGAGE Bullying Prevention Curriculum
• Embark Leadership Program A research-based leadership development program for grades 5-12 designed to develop student leadership potential through an 'inside-out' approach. Components include service projects, scholarship/skill development, and self-knowledge development. Sold as annual school licensing at $495.00 with campus-wide digital rights, including Teacher's Edition and Student Workbook digital downloads.
• Songbook and Audio Files A digital music resource for elementary-aged learners with 36 Character First songs, including a 75-page songbook PDF with chord notations and audio files (piano+vocal and piano only). Individual pricing at $29.99 and school licensing available.
• Character First Branded Merchandise Branded merchandise featuring character-themed designs including t-shirts, hoodies, bags, posters, and stickers, sold through a partnership with Spring that ships orders from a third-party organization.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100,000 teachers, parents, and youth workers have used Character First Education materials worldwide

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SpringminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCharacter First Education partnered with Spring to introduce a new line of branded merchandise products including t-shirts, hoodies, bags, posters, and stickers. Orders ship from a third-party organization and are licensed by Character First Education and Strata Leadership, LLC.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Committee for Children: Committee for Children is the publisher of the Second Step SEL program, the most widely adopted classroom-based SEL curriculum in US K-8 schools. It competes head-to-head with Character First's Elementary Curriculum and ENGAGE bullying prevention in the same school purchasing channels and state SEL adoption lists.
• FranklinCovey (Leader in Me): Leader in Me is FranklinCovey's K-12 leadership and character development program based on the 7 Habits framework, distributed to thousands of schools worldwide. It directly competes with Character First's Embark Leadership Program for grades 5-12 leadership budgets.
• CharacterStrong: CharacterStrong delivers PreK-12 character education, SEL, and leadership curricula to schools and districts with a focus on daily classroom integration. It targets the same counselor and building-leadership buyers as Character First's Elementary Curriculum and Embark programs.
• The Positivity Project: The Positivity Project provides K-12 character-based SEL curriculum built around 24 character strengths. It competes directly with Character First's 30 character qualities curriculum for the same school district SEL and character education line items.
• Sanford Harmony (Sanford Inspire): Sanford Harmony is a PreK-6 SEL and character education program developed at San Diego State University and distributed through the National University System. It is comparable to Character First's Elementary Curriculum in grade range, research basis, and school licensing model.
• Capturing Kids Hearts: Capturing Kids Hearts offers K-12 character, relationship, and leadership training to schools through a combination of curriculum and in-person PD. It overlaps with Character First in the leadership and character development categories and competes for the same campus culture budgets.
• Positive Action: Positive Action is a research-based PreK-12 character and SEL curriculum with school-wide and counselor editions sold on a licensing basis. It targets the same character education purchasing decisions as Character First and is often co-evaluated in district RFPs.

Emerging players

• Peekapak: Peekapak is a digital-first SEL platform for PreK-5 classrooms offering interactive story-based lessons. It is an emerging digital alternative to Character First's PDF-based Elementary Curriculum, often chosen by districts seeking interactive online delivery.

Broad incumbents

• Panorama Education: Panorama Education is a broader K-12 student success platform covering SEL curriculum, surveys, and MTSS. Its Panorama Playbook SEL curriculum competes with Character First for school SEL dollars and is bundled with measurement tools that a single-curriculum vendor cannot match.
• Scholastic Education: Scholastic is a major K-12 publisher whose literacy and SEL programs reach most US schools through existing distribution relationships. It is a broad incumbent competing for the same classroom budget allocations, though character education is not its primary focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/character_first

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Character First Education