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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Bo Morrissey, head of the Upper School at Briarwood Christian School.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Bo Morrissey, head of the Upper School at Briarwood Christian School, talks with students as they change classes on Nov. 29.
The Briarwood Christian School yearbook sits open on Bo Morrissey’s desk in his new office, almost one month after he began his new role as head of the Upper School.
He spends time each day looking at photos and trying to memorize names.
Morrissey arrived at the upper campus of Briarwood Christian School on Nov. 1 and spent the last few weeks of the first semester getting to know the staff and students.
Moving around
Having lived in different cities around the South his entire life, this is Morrissey’s third time to live in the Birmingham area.
“I don’t know how to answer when people ask me where I grew up,” he said. “I have lived in Alabama longer than any other state.”
Born in South Carolina, Morrissey and his family moved to Hoover when he was in second grade, where he attended Green Valley Elementary and then Trace Crossings when it opened up during his fifth-grade year. His family then moved to North Carolina during the middle of that school year.
They moved back to Hoover, specifically Riverchase, long enough for Morrissey to attend eighth grade at Simmons Middle School and ninth grade at Hoover High School. He finished his last three years at Lexington High School in South Carolina.
Morrissey chose to attend Auburn University, where he graduated in 2004 with a degree in secondary education (social science). He played on the Auburn Men’s Club soccer team and would later coach that team from 2011 to 2013.
“I knew I wanted to be a history teacher,” he said. “I grew up with a family of educators, as my mom, grandmother, aunt and sister are all teachers. … I was always drawn to history, and three of my grandparents fought in World War II. Growing up listening to their stories and hearing from that greatest generation, I was always fascinated with that. I knew if I was going to teach, that was the subject I’d want to do it in.”
After college, Morrissey was hired at Auburn High School from 2005 to 2014, where he progressed from teaching to serve his last three years as assistant principal. He also coached the school’s soccer team, which in 2012 won the 6A state championship and he was named State Coach of the Year.
Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Bo Morrissey, head of the Upper School at Briarwood Christian School, talks with students as they change classes on Nov. 29.
‘Opening doors’
Morrissey and his wife, Molly, moved to Franklin, Tennessee for her job in 2017, and he taught Bible classes at Christ Presbyterian Academy for one year before moving to the role of assistant head of the middle school.
“It was a challenge I never really saw coming, and it was awesome and humbling to do that and shepherding kids in eighth grade through that course was a learning experience for me,” he said.
When the Briarwood Christian School Upper School head position became available, Morrissey received a call from a friend about it, encouraging him to apply. He decided to put his name in the running for the position and see what happened.
He visited over Labor Day weekend, had an interview and met with the board members, Superintendent Gus Martin and Lower School Principal Tasha Holliday, and things progressed from there.
“Molly and I kept talking about it,” Morrissey said. “A lot of things need to happen for us to make it happen, her job being one of them, but the Lord just kept opening doors and leading us here.”
Getting to know Briarwood Christian School
Morrissey decided to go ahead and start before the second semester since the school was down a person, and the stress that put on other administrators to fill the gaps was weighing on his heart.
“Looking at the calendar, if I could get in before Christmas and learn the systems, that might be better than coming in January and starting fresh the second semester,” he said. “Now that I’ve got my feet under me a little bit, I think the second semester will go a bit smoother now that I have an idea of how things work.”
Morrissey said he’s enjoyed spending time with Superintendent Gus Martin, who also started this school year, and said Martin has a great sense of the heartbeat of the school and he’s already learned a lot from him during a short time. Morrissey has also seen how much the staff loves the students, and he knows how important that is.
“As I am having one-on-ones with staff members, it’s easy to see the cornerstone of this place: the people interacting with the kids daily love their jobs and love the kids here really well,” Morrissey said. “My focus is doing this position to the best of my ability.”
He realizes there has been a lot of changeover at the Upper School, but he said the other side of the coin in having new leadership is that it’s an opportunity to dig deep and to build on something that’s already been in place in a new direction.
“Gus has great world experience and life experience and can help bring new fresh ideas here,” he said. “I love the freedom he’s bringing to the table, and I think it will be really comforting for our staff to be creative in their own classrooms and still teach through a biblical world lens and be creative to the process.”
Morrissey said one of the things he’s enjoyed most so far is having one-on-one staff meetings and hearing about each of their experiences at Briarwood Christian School, along with what’s going well and what needs work.
“I love being able to have those conversations, I don’t love sitting in my office. I like to be out and see what’s going on and talking to kids,” he said.
Morrissey said it’s felt like the Lord has been preparing him the last few years to get to the place where he was ready to lead a school.
“Nothing is easy about running a school this large and all the things that come with it,” he said. “The Lord has me in this place for a reason now. I want to focus hard on doing this really well. Deep down, I have a lot of loyalist in me. I like to get my roots in and established and get to know the community and people in it really well. I plan on doing that and being here for a really long time.”
Family life
Molly, his wife of 17 years, and their daughters Blakely (10) and Libby (5) stayed behind in Franklin after Morrissey started his new position, so they could sell their house and the kids could finish up at their schools before Christmas break. Meanwhile, Morrissey stayed with a Briarwood family as he worked on closing on a new home for his own family.
During his free time, Morrissey enjoys fly fishing, so much so that while in Nashville, he began his own business as a fly fishing guide. While he had summers off, he got to teach people how to cast and fish. Though he’s given up the business owner role, he said he does look forward to finding fly fishing spots around his new home, including the Cahaba River and making the drive to the Sipsey River to trout fish.
Although he stopped coaching boys soccer six years ago, Morrissey has spent time coaching his daughters’ team.
Once the family move is complete, Molly will be able to maintain her position with Waste Management and their daughters will attend Briarwood’s lower school campus.
