BY JULIE LANDRY LAVIOLETTE

Special to the Miami Herald

While some South Florida Catholic schools are struggling to keep their doors open, Archbishop McCarthy High School in Southwest Ranches continues to thrive.

The school has been named one of the Top 50 Catholic High Schools in the United States for the third year in a row.

Although St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale has previously made the list, this year, McCarthy is the only Broward high school to be included.

Two Miami-Dade County schools also made the cut: Belen Jesuit Preparatory School and Christopher Columbus High.

With an enrollment of 1,400, the school is ''bursting at the seams,'' Development Director Stephen Brown said.

''This year, we tested more incoming freshmen than ever before. Fortunately, everything has continued to look very optimistic for us,'' Broward said.

The Top 50 list, also called the National Catholic High School Honor Roll, is a project of the Acton Institute, an international research and educational organization. This year, nearly 300 of the country's 1,300 Catholic high schools applied for the honor, which rates schools on academic excellence, Catholic identity and civic education.

''We're very excited to be recognized,'' Brown said. ``It shows that we're doing things right and that the kids are really benefiting from all of work we've been doing.''

This year, 53 McCarthy High School students have been recognized nationally for academics, including 13 National Merit Scholars.

''That is a huge number,'' Brown said. ``By contrast, there were 10 National Merit Scholars in all of Broward County's public schools.''

McCarthy is one of four Catholic high schools in Broward County. It is under the Archdiocese of Miami but has not been affected by recent budget cuts to schools.

The other two Catholic high schools in Broward are Cardinal Gibbons in Fort Lauderdale and Chaminade Madonna College Preparatory School in Hollywood.

''The Catholic high schools have never been subsidized by the Archdiocese,'' Brown said. ``It's the smaller, inner-city elementary schools that were subsidized by the Archdiocese. Now they are struggling because the subsidies have been cut back.''

Brother Angelo Palmieri, superintendent of secondary schools for the Archdiocese, said he sees many parents on tight budgets foregoing Catholic elementary schools, saving up instead for a Catholic high school education.

''Fortunately Broward has four excellent Catholic high schools,'' he said. ``At McCarthy, they have an excellent administration, staff and facility. They have so many good things going for them.''

McCarthy, which opened in 1998 with 190 students, recently added a $4.5 million Student and Performing Arts Center to its 43-acre campus. The school currently is enclosing a 3,900-square-foot outdoor pavilion to create a health and fitness center. An athletic stadium is slated to be completed in 2010.