Archbishop to Reveal Plan For Future of Area Catholic Schools

After decades of dropping enrollment, St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson will reveal his plan today to increase Catholic school enrollment Thursday at in Manchester.

School officials tell Patch Carlson will visit the school at 3 p.m. Thursday. The event is not open to the public.

The archbishop will address Catholic school principals, priests and parents from around the region.

"He's sharing his mission for all catholic schools and sharing his vision and initiatives that are going to be implemented by the archdicese overall," Kennedy Catholic School Spokesperson Monica Sullivan tells Patch. "Enrollment will be a part of that, but it's not the driving factor behind it."

According to Elizabeth Westhoff, director of marketing with the St. Louis Archdiocese, declining student enrollment is a concern though and the archbishop will announce his plan to reverse that trend.

"The mission advancement initiative is to look at the trend in Catholic school enrollment. The plan is to reverse that trend by 2018," Westhoff tells Patch.  "That date is significant because 1818 is the date we recognize as the start of Catholic education in St. Louis."

Patch will attend Thursday's event so check back for an update on the archbishop's plan later in the day.