Why Donaldson Career Center
Donaldson Career Center is special because we give students more than a class—we give them a head start on their future. Through hands-on learning, small class environments, industry certifications and work-based learning, students develop the technical skills, confidence, professionalism, and real-world experience needed to succeed in college, careers, or entrepreneurship. Our dedicated teachers know their students, celebrate their growth, and take pride in seeing them earn credentials, achieve success, and become confident professionals. Students have access to high skill, high wage and high demand career pathways and meaningful connections with industry partners that can lead to internships, employment, and lifelong opportunities. Most importantly, Donaldson provides an affordable opportunity for students to graduate with more than a diploma—they can leave with valuable skills, certifications, experience, and a clear path toward their future.
RESOURCE LINKS
Contact: Sheay McHenry, School Counselor @ (864) 355-4656
- Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering
- Automotive Technology
- Barbering
- Building Construction
- Career Exploratory
- Cosmotology
- Culinary Arts
- Diesel Technology
- Esthetics
- Firefighting
- Mechatronics
- Nail Technology
- Welding Technology
- 2026 Greenville County Work Based Student of the Year - Sam Murdock, Diesel Technology
- 2026 ArcLabs Welding Competition 1st Place Scholarship Winner - Pierce Scott, Welding Technology
- 2025 Greenville Technical College Welding Competition - DCC Welding Technology students placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 5th.
- 2024 Greenville County Schools & SC Department of Education CTE School Counselor of the Year for the Greenville Region - Sheay McHenry
- 2024 Great Clips Cosmetology Teacher of the Year - Klarissa Hunt
- Culinary Arts Competition Awards
- Euphoria Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown Champions - 2025 Alex Kreider, 2022 Bethany Wojeck, 2019 Nate Kingdom
- SC ProStart Invitational Top-Five Finishers in Restaurant Management - 2026 Sol Dorado 3rd Place, 2025 Bloom and Butter 2nd Place, 2024 Bad Betty’s 3rd Place, 2023 Midnight Cabin 4th Place
- SC Junior Chef Competition - 2025 Thai Curry Chicken 2nd Place, 2024 Hawaiian Poke Bowl - SC Champion, 4th Place Nationally, 2023 Caprese Chicken Sandwich 3rd Place, 2022 Turkey Stroganoff 2nd Place
- 2019 SCRLA Upstate Hospitality Educator of the Year - Chef Drew Archer, Culinary Arts
In 1942, the U.S. Department of the Army acquired roughly 2,600 acres south of Greenville near Conestee to build an air base used to train B-25 bomber crews and glider pilots. After expanding during the Cold War and playing a major transport role during the Berlin Airlift, the facility was renamed Donaldson Air Force Base in honor of Greenville native and World War I flying ace Captain John Owen Donaldson in 1951. The U.S. Air Force closed the base in the early 1960s. The City and County of Greenville jointly purchased the property and converted it into the Donaldson Center Industrial Air Park.
Donaldson Vocational Training Center, now known as Donaldson Career Center, opened in the Fall of 1971 as the first technical school of its type in Greenville County Schools. As programs evolved and curriculum offerings changed, the name of the school was revised to Donaldson Career Center. However, our mission has not changed. We work to develop both technical and employability skills to meet the needs of our community both now and in the future. Plans are currently being finalized to build a new school on a nearby site to continue serving our community by preparing our students for high skill, high wage and high demand careers.
"We absolutely love Donaldson Career Center and everything it offers students! It provides students with the opportunity to graduate high school with a trade and real-world skills they can take directly into the workforce if college is not the right path for them.”
- Cosmetology Student Parent
"As a parent, one of the greatest things you can ask for is knowing your children are prepared for what comes next, and Donaldson Career Center has done exactly that for our family.”
- Welding Student Parent