(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) On the first day of Catholic Schools Week in the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese, Bishop James Johnston along with local catholic school leaders met at Bishop LeBlond High School Sunday afternoon to announce a plan aiming to revitalize catholic education in St. Joseph and the surrounding area.

"This is a great opportunity that the community has to focus on the future and to not only appreciate where we’ve been but to realize where we want to go." Johnston said. "It’s an opportunity for our schools to be working more closely together rather than just entirely separate."

leaders met to announce key goals of the plan which include creating a more positive classroom environment, increasing academic performance and improving catholic school sustainability.  

Bishop Johnston assured the plans would not include shutting down any schools,

"We aren’t planning on eliminating a school," He said "Our schools are going to be working in tandem with each other."

A major part of the plan involves a partnership between the catholic schools and the education program at Benedictine College in Atchison.

Steve Minnus, President of the college called the plan a "win-win" for all catholic educational institutions in the area. 

"We have one of the top education programs in the country," Minnus said. "We can send more and more of our graduates to St. Joseph and really build up the education program here."

Catholic educational leaders hope the plan will pave the way for a brighter future for kids at every stage of catholic education.