Best Middle Schools in Illinois

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Find the best Illinois middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Illinois test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the IAR test scores by the Illinois State Board of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 1363)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
174338004339	391	Worth Junior High School	Public	6-8	11151 S New England Ave	Worth	60482	Cook County	Worth School District 127	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 448-2803	346	28	12.5	65.3%	214 (61.8%)	17 (4.9%)	97 (28.0%)	7 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.2%)	$17,986			$1,685			$16,301	65.6	54.7	522	131
170017602389	392	Cowden-Herrick Junior/Senior High School	Public	6-12	633 County Highway 22	Cowden	62422	Shelby County	Cowden-Herrick CUSD 3A	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 783-2125	165	19	8.6	68.5%	160 (97.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	3 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,416			$2,619			$12,797	65.6	76.5	253	139
170993005548	393	Galileo Elementary Math & Sci Schol Acd	Public	K-8	820 S Carpenter St	Chicago	60607	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(773) 534-7070	539	40	13.4	50.3%	55 (10.2%)	135 (25.0%)	307 (57.0%)	19 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (4.1%)	$19,168			$2,500			$16,668	65.3	66.5	374	19
172989005185	394	Olympia Middle School	Public	6-8	911 E 800 North Rd	Stanford	61774	McLean County	Olympia CUSD 16	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 379-5941	386	27	14.2	38.6%	360 (93.3%)	3 (0.8%)	8 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.9%)	$13,218			$1,053			$12,165	65.2	50.8	588	194
171806002085	395	Hamilton Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1830 Broadway St	Hamilton	62341	Hancock County	Hamilton CCSD 328	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(866) 332-3880	419	32	13.1	48.0%	379 (90.5%)	7 (1.7%)	5 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (6.7%)	$11,518			$588			$10,930	65.2	63	406	11
170011006217	396	LEARN Charter School 6 N Chicago Campus	Public, Charter	K-8	3131 Sheridan Rd	Great Lakes	60088	Lake County	North Chicago School District 187	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(847) 377-0600	500	44	11.3	72.6%	51 (10.2%)	111 (22.2%)	298 (59.6%)	8 (1.6%)	4 (0.8%)	2 (0.4%)	26 (5.2%)	$16,587			$96			$16,491	65.1	47.1	645	249
173594004831	397	Sesser-Valier Junior High School	Public	6-8	4626 State Highway 154	Sesser	62884	Franklin County	Sesser-Valier CUSD 196	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 625-5105	135	9	15	51.9%	122 (90.4%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.7%)	$11,690			$2,751			$8,939	64.7	49.7	594	197
170004100268	398	GCMS Middle School	Public	6-8	316 E 19th St	Gibson City	60936	Ford County	Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley CUSD 5	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 784-8731	208	21	9.9	44.2%	180 (86.5%)	4 (1.9%)	14 (6.7%)	4 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.9%)	$16,481			$832			$15,650	64.6	82.7	191	207
170142306386	399	LEARN John Kathy Schreiber Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1200 W Glen Flora Ave	Waukegan	60085	Lake County	LEARN John and Kathy Schreiber Ch	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 377-0690	421	36	11.6	58.7%	13 (3.1%)	43 (10.2%)	363 (86.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$11,423			$1,335			$10,089	64.6	51.3	578	179
174221004230	400	Cooper Middle School	Public	6-8	1050 Plum Grove Cir	Buffalo Grove	60089	Lake County	Wheeling CCSD 21	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(847) 520-2750	675	49	13.7	39.4%	389 (57.6%)	19 (2.8%)	170 (25.2%)	75 (11.1%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (3.0%)	$19,633			$1,034			$18,599	64.5	66.9	366	34

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for IL student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Disabled Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on IAR English Language Arts, IAR Mathematics test scores released by the Illinois State Board of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 30, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Illinois State Board of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Illinois State Board of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education.