In 2018, the Diocese began developing a plan to ensure all 16 diocesan schools could fulfill their mission for the next generation of students and families. The plan came forth in the spirit of stewardship and focused on prudently managing the resources and gifts God has given the Church, making disciples for Christ, evangelizing families, and forming young people capable and ready to transform the world with the Gospel of Christ. Throughout the planning process, parish and school leaders shared their insights into the state of Catholic education. 

The plan features collaborative faith formation programs, professional marketing and communications, enrollment management to promote Catholic schools and increase enrollment, high quality academic programs available to all students, and the creation of an endowment to provide schools with a well-funded financial aid program. The plan also calls for creating a regionalized, Des Moines Metro school system of the 11 elementary schools and Dowling Catholic High School. This regional model allows schools in the Des Moines area to take advantage of best practices while maintaining their unique strengths and connection to their parish communities. Finally, the regional model features centralized business operations to reduce duplication of efforts and take school management tasks off the plate of pastors and principals. 

Region designations identify schools by their geographic location. St. Alberts in Council Bluffs is a region, the rural schools in Creston, Shelby County, and Perry are a region, and the eleven grade schools in the Des Moines metro area along with Dowling Catholic High School form a region. Region designations, however, also identify schools that act as a system. A system relates to governance and business practices. For example, St. Alberts in Council Bluffs is a regional school system since all grades of the school are in one system under one governance model with a president and board or boards. 

Area pastors and schools have agreed to form a regional system in the Des Moines metro. The pastors have reviewed the final draft of the bylaws which will be filed in April 2022 to establish the region as a legal and canonical entity. The plan to regionalize the Des Moines metro schools creates a system and business model that provides strong collaboration, more equity, and improves efficiencies of operations across all the schools. The model also proposes that all parishes in the metro area support the Catholic grade schools financially so that families in every parish have access to a Catholic education. More information and updates on the regionalization are provided at www.dsmrcsplan.org.