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)
171185005156	1221	Johns Hill Magnet School	Public	K-8	601 N Church St	Decatur	62522	Macon County	Decatur School District 61	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 362-3350	643	38	16.9	72.5%	134 (20.8%)	279 (43.4%)	140 (21.8%)	30 (4.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (9.2%)	$18,709			$3,694			$15,015	15.4	21.6	1083	138
173451006077	1222	Legacy Academy of Excellence Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4029 Prairie Rd	Rockford	61102	Winnebago County	Rockford School District 205	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 961-1100	233	9	25.8	72.1%	28 (12.0%)	134 (57.5%)	47 (20.2%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (9.0%)	$19,006			$5,571			$13,435	15.3	16.2	1201	21
170684000354	1223	Braceville Elementary School	Public	K-8	209 N Mitchell St	Braceville	60407	Grundy County	Braceville School District 75	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 237-8040	122	13	9.3	59.0%	100 (82.0%)	2 (1.6%)	18 (14.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.6%)	$15,165			$1,098			$14,067	15.3	30.7	905	318
170993003567	1224	Northwest Middle School	Public	6-8	5252 W Palmer St	Chicago	60639	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-3250	486	35	14	86.2%	10 (2.1%)	16 (3.3%)	454 (93.4%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$18,046			$2,728			$15,319	15.2	13.3	1273	49
173531003688	1225	Sandoval Junior High School	Public	6-8	859 W Missouri Ave	Sandoval	62882	Marion County	Sandoval CUSD 501	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 247-3361	98	5	19.2	83.7%	88 (89.8%)	2 (2.0%)	3 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (5.1%)	$14,132			$3,748			$10,384	15.2	17.5	1168	57
170993006399	1226	Sadlowski Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3930 E 105th St	Chicago	60617	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-8040	625	46	13.7	84.3%	16 (2.6%)	27 (4.3%)	579 (92.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$20,883			$3,000			$17,883	15.1	21.9	1073	153
170993000738	1227	Earle Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2040 W 62nd St	Chicago	60636	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-9130	244	19	12.8	98.8%	1 (0.4%)	206 (84.4%)	34 (13.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	$25,978			$6,193			$19,785	15.1	15.5	1218	9
170468000040	1228	Henry W Cowherd Middle School	Public	6-8	441 N Farnsworth Ave	Aurora	60505	Kane County	Aurora East Unified School District 131	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(630) 299-5900	883	64	13.6	72.3%	15 (1.7%)	112 (12.7%)	741 (83.9%)	7 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.7%)	$19,195			$3,179			$16,015	15.1	16	1205	23
171371001664	1229	Abbott Middle School	Public	7-8	949 Van St	Elgin	60123	Kane County	School District U-46	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 888-5160	551	39	14.2	65.0%	59 (10.7%)	54 (9.8%)	408 (74.0%)	10 (1.8%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (2.9%)	$19,222			$2,093			$17,129	15.1	17.7	1164	65
170993000657	1230	Chalmers Elementary Specialty School	Public	PK, KG-8	2745 W Roosevelt Rd	Chicago	60608	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-1720	209	22	9.5	93.3%	2 (1.0%)	196 (93.8%)	9 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	$27,194			$6,211			$20,983	14.8	15.6	1216	14

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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

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.