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)
172145002411	411	Eisenhower Junior High School	Public	6-8	1410 75th St	Darien	60561	DuPage County	Darien School District 61	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(630) 964-5200	416	38	10.9	39.7%	226 (54.3%)	52 (12.5%)	90 (21.6%)	28 (6.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (3.8%)	$17,830			$717			$17,113	63.5	68.7	343	68
172559006360	412	Unity Middle School	Public	5-8	453 W Collins St	Mendon	62351	Adams County	Cusd 4	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 936-2727	194	16	11.8	46.4%	187 (96.4%)	2 (1.0%)	4 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	$9,228			$272			$8,956	63.3	55.7	502	90
171047005306	413	Stratford Middle School	Public	6-8	251 Butterfield Dr	Bloomingdale	60108	DuPage County	Ccsd 93	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(630) 671-4300	541	64	8.4	42.1%	202 (37.3%)	45 (8.3%)	149 (27.5%)	136 (25.1%)	4 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	$22,285			$196			$22,088	63.3	63.1	405	8
170873000513	414	Cary Junior High School	Public	6-8	2109 Crystal Lake Rd	Cary	60013	McHenry County	Cary CCSD 26	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(224) 357-5150	745	61	12.2	28.2%	504 (67.7%)	5 (0.7%)	183 (24.6%)	15 (2.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (5.0%)	$13,921			$694			$13,227	63.2	72.1	304	110
171602001910	415	Galatia Junior High	Public	6-8	200 N McKinley St	Galatia	62935	Saline County	Galatia CUSD 1	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 297-4571	80	6	13.6	47.5%	73 (91.3%)	3 (3.8%)	1 (1.3%)	1 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.5%)	$9,530			$1,017			$8,512	63.1	58.3	467	52
170993004277	416	Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	4520 S Kedzie Ave	Chicago	60632	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-4050	725	51	14.3	90.2%	4 (0.6%)	4 (0.6%)	708 (97.7%)	7 (1.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$18,053			$3,619			$14,434	63	63.5	401	15
170561000232	417	Central Junior High School	Public	7-8	1801 Central School Rd	Belleville	62220	St. Clair County	Belleville School District 118	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 233-5377	354	24	14.7	63.0%	156 (44.1%)	140 (39.5%)	31 (8.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (7.3%)	$19,479			$2,854			$16,625	63	57.7	477	60
170993000411	418	Chavez Elementary Multicultural Academy Ct	Public	PK, KG-8	4747 S Marshfield Ave	Chicago	60609	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-4600	783	54	14.5	96.8%	1 (0.1%)	13 (1.7%)	764 (97.6%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$18,945			$3,515			$15,429	63	52.2	568	150
171314001552	419	Gemini Middle School	Public	6-8	8955 N Greenwood Ave	Niles	60714	Cook County	East Maine School District 63	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 827-1181	1,105	94	11.7	64.6%	327 (29.6%)	71 (6.4%)	251 (22.7%)	301 (27.2%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	152 (13.8%)	$17,066			$795			$16,270	62.6	51.2	582	163
173102004791	420	Pearl City Junior High School	Public	7-8	100 S Summit St	Pearl City	61062	Stephenson County	Pearl City CUSD 200	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 443-2715	77	6	13.6	45.5%	66 (85.7%)	2 (2.6%)	5 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (5.2%)	$10,413			$571			$9,841	62.6	83.7	181	239

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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:

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

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.