First day back for Catholic school students in Brooklyn and Queens

NEW YORK - Wednesday is the first day of class for Catholic School students in Brooklyn and Queens. 

Wednesday morning, Bishop Robert Brennan marked the occasion by greeting students, teachers and parents at St. Athanasius Catholic Academy in Bensonhurst. 

Brennan said that while he's looking forward to the new school year, he does expect some challenges. 

"Our challenge every year is to continue to grow. We want to try and build up our enrollment. We want to support our faculty, our teachers. We want to keep building up on our excellence of our academics," Brennan said. 

The Brooklyn Diocese has 69 Catholic elementary schools and 15 high schools. 

Nearly 30,000 students are enrolled.