Archdiocese Wrestles With Changing School Trends

(CBS) -- A reality check for the Chicago Archdiocese as some Catholic schools students attend  the first day of school.

Archdiocese leaders acknowledge they must change the way they operate to keep their doors open.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports.

More than 500 students are attending the new Pope Francis Academy in the Portage Park community.

The new school opened after four Catholic schools were forced to merge into two campuses because of declining enrollment. It's a problem across the Archdiocese. In 2014, the district had 82,000 students; last year, 79,000; this year's projection is 75,000.

Jim Rigg, superintendent of the Archdiocese Chicago Catholic Schools, says he can't guarantee further adjustments.

"But I can guarantee we're moving forward with hope and optimism," he says.

That hope and optimism can be found at St. Nicholas in West Lawn.

"We've gone from 200 to 375 students in the last six years," Principal Mariagnes Menden says.

She attributes that increase to marketing the school at the local parish and putting more of their fundraising dollars towards scholarships to help families pay the more than $4,000 tuition.

Since money could help, the Archdiocese is raising $350 million.

Rigg says 150 million will be targeted toward helping families with tuition.

"We don't want tuition to be an obstacle for families coming to our schools," he says.

The Archdiocese is also planning a marketing campaign that will include outreach in local churches, social media and traditional marketing outlets.