Paul Morrissey is the Founder & CEO of Compass Rose Public Schools. He took part in the 2015 Building Excellent Schools Fellowship, a rigorous, yearlong, comprehensive training program in urban charter school creation and leadership.

Growing up, Paul learned the importance of education from his grandfather, who handwrote tests for Paul and his brothers based on readings from his collection of leather-bound history books. Each night, the boys would have to read the chapters and pass the tests before they could sit down for dinner. Later, Paul had a transformative experience with a high school music teacher, who showed him talent and passion he could not see for himself. The experience fundamentally shifted his understanding of his own limits and cemented in Paul the belief that every child, especially the most vulnerable, deserves teachers who can and will do the same for them.

Compass Rose opened as a single-site middle school serving 90 students in their founding year. In the seven years since, Paul has expanded the impact of the organization to now serve 4,000 students in grades PK-12 across six sites in San Antonio and the Austin area. Each Compass Rose campus is committed to putting every child on the pathway to success in college and beyond so they can confidently navigate life’s biggest opportunities.

Paul is building a wonderful life with his wife, Nicole (the best science teacher he has ever seen and a great school leader) and their three children: their son Harlan (7) and their daughters Noa (5) and Sawyer (3). He is a passionate supporter of all their endeavors but particularly loves being a sports dad. When he’s not in the office, you can almost certainly find him at the ice rink or the gym cheering on his favorite little athletes.