Best Middle Schools in Illinois

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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)
170910000129	971	Central A & M Middle School	Public	6-8	404 Colegrove St Ste A	Assumption	62510	Christian County	Central A & M CUD 21	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 226-4241	168	14	11.6	43.5%	160 (95.2%)	2 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.6%)	$13,496			$552			$12,944	26.4	41.5	747	224
173441003529	972	Washington Junior High School	Public	7-8	3300 18th Ave	Rock Island	61201	Rock Island County	Rock Island School District 41	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 793-5915	484	35	13.8	66.1%	180 (37.2%)	131 (27.1%)	110 (22.7%)	22 (4.5%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (8.1%)	$14,244			$2,249			$11,994	26.4	26.5	978	6
171221001475	973	West Oak Middle School	Public	6-8	26156 N Acorn Ln	Mundelein	60060	Lake County	Diamond Lake School District 76	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 566-9220	302	31	9.8	60.9%	66 (21.9%)	12 (4.0%)	205 (67.9%)	10 (3.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.6%)	$22,177			$920			$21,257	26.3	32.9	878	95
171215001472	974	DeSoto Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	311 Hurst Rd	De Soto	62924	Jackson County	DeSoto Cons School District 86	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 867-2317	180	19	9.4	65.0%	150 (83.3%)	9 (5.0%)	3 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (10.0%)	$20,023			$5,905			$14,118	26.3	45.8	666	308
170011505396	975	Henry-Senachwine Grade School	Public	PK, KG-8	201 Richard St	Henry	61537	Marshall County	Henry-Senachwine CUSD 5	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 364-2531	397	31	12.9	51.1%	370 (93.2%)	1 (0.3%)	16 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.3%)	$17,586			$435			$17,151	26.2	36.7	825	150
173186003344	976	Pleasant Hill Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3717 W Malone St	Peoria	61605	Peoria County	Pleasant Hill School District 69	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 637-6829	174	15	11.6	93.7%	91 (52.3%)	60 (34.5%)	22 (12.6%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,532			$562			$11,970	26.2	27	965	11
170786000400	977	Burnham Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	13945 S Green Bay Ave	Burnham	60633	Cook County	Burnham School District 154-5	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 862-8636	170	12	14.4	93.5%	8 (4.7%)	66 (38.8%)	89 (52.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.1%)	$21,759			$2,879			$18,880	26.2	13.2	1276	299
170651004244	978	Veterans Memorial Middle School	Public	6-8	12320 Greenwood Ave	Blue Island	60406	Cook County	Cook County School District 130	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 489-7307	370	32	11.7	90.5%	23 (6.2%)	105 (28.4%)	238 (64.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.1%)	$22,696			$3,968			$18,728	26.2	25.7	998	20
170795000402	979	Bushnell-Prairie City Junior High School	Public	6-8	847 Walnut St	Bushnell	61422	McDonough County	Bushnell Prairie City CUSD 170	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(309) 772-3123	136	12	11.4	64.7%	120 (88.2%)	9 (6.6%)	2 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.7%)	$16,615			$1,317			$15,298	26.2	41.4	748	231
170993000783	980	Gallistel Elementary Language Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	10347 S Ewing Ave	Chicago	60617	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-6540	618	49	12.7	90.1%	6 (1.0%)	42 (6.8%)	566 (91.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$18,783			$3,126			$15,657	26.1	20	1111	131

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

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

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.