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)
172730005720	681	Brown County Middle School	Public	5-8	504 E Main Street	Mount Sterling	62353	Brown County	Brown County CUSD 1	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 773-7601	206	17	12.1	40.8%	194 (94.2%)	1 (0.5%)	6 (2.9%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.5%)	$13,431			$923			$12,508	44.3	53.3	541	140
171548001864	682	Jack Hille Middle School	Public	6-8	5800 151st St	Oak Forest	60452	Cook County	Forest Ridge School District 142	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 687-5550	528	31	17	43.9%	288 (54.5%)	53 (10.0%)	158 (29.9%)	8 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	20 (3.8%)	$12,943			$1,145			$11,799	44.2	41.9	738	56
170142406394	683	Betty Shabazz Internl Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	7823 S Ellis Ave	Chicago	60619	Cook County	Betty Shabazz Internl Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 651-1221	312	17	18.1	90.4%	0 (0.0%)	299 (95.8%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.9%)	$18,895			$3,430			$15,465	44.2	27.3	958	275
171044001261	684	Clinton Junior High School	Public	6-8	701 Illini Dr	Clinton	61727	De Witt County	Clinton CUSD 15	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 935-2103	370	34	10.8	50.5%	317 (85.7%)	3 (0.8%)	22 (5.9%)	3 (0.8%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	22 (5.9%)	$16,272			$937			$15,335	44.2	40.3	766	82
172562002773	685	Northbrook School	Public	5-8	1804 Guiles Ave	Mendota	61342	LaSalle County	Mendota CCSD 289	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 539-6237	508	37	13.9	59.4%	265 (52.2%)	17 (3.3%)	206 (40.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.5%)	$15,105			$676			$14,429	44.2	49.1	607	78
173903003959	686	Central Middle School	Public	6-8	18146 Oak Park Ave	Tinley Park	60477	Cook County	Ccsd 146	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 614-4510	739	61	12	37.1%	463 (62.7%)	64 (8.7%)	155 (21.0%)	15 (2.0%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	38 (5.1%)	$17,879			$673			$17,206	44.2	46.2	662	24
170993006488	687	CICS - Basil Campus	Public, Charter	K-8	1816 W Garfield Blvd	Chicago	60609	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(773) 778-9455	481	22	21.8	95.6%	3 (0.6%)	359 (74.6%)	104 (21.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.9%)	$20,756			$164			$20,592	44.2	40.6	762	75
170993000981	688	Brown R Elementary Community Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	12607 S Union Ave	Chicago	60628	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-5385	285	17	16.7	95.4%	0 (0.0%)	282 (98.9%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$20,734			$3,728			$17,006	44.1	25.6	1002	314
173648003760	689	Lincoln Junior High School	Public	6-8	7839 Lincoln Ave	Skokie	60077	Cook County	Skokie School District 69	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 676-3545	578	47	12.2	59.2%	170 (29.4%)	73 (12.6%)	107 (18.5%)	180 (31.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	45 (7.8%)	$20,806			$1,904			$18,902	44	52.4	563	126
170993001034	690	Pickard Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2301 W 21st Pl	Chicago	60608	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-7280	297	27	11	90.6%	9 (3.0%)	11 (3.7%)	275 (92.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	$23,902			$3,192			$20,710	43.9	46.7	655	35

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.