Roanoke Catholic School has been named one of the country's top 50 Roman Catholic high schools for the second time.

The only school in the state to be named to the Catholic High School Honor Roll, Roanoke Catholic also was named one of the top 20 Catholic high schools for civic education. It received both honors last year as well, the first year of the honor roll.

The honor roll is a project of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, an international research and educational organization, and was produced in consultation with a national advisory board of Catholic college presidents and noted Catholic scholars.

Schools were chosen based on their responses to surveys on three different areas: academic excellence, the school's Catholic identity and civic education.

Honorees ranged from Holy Rosary Academy in Anchorage, Alaska, which has only 24 students, to St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with more than 2,100 students. Roanoke Catholic has 561 students in preschool through 12th grade, with 224 students in the Upper School.

John Elcesser, superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, said in a statement that the honor "no doubt speaks to the school's visionary leadership and exemplary teaching personnel." He called the school "centered in their Catholic mission with an eye always toward improvement."