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)
172076002365	931	Lincoln Cltrl Center-Montessori Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	240 Warren Ave	Kankakee	60901	Kankakee County	Kankakee School District 111	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 933-0709	429	27	15.9	82.5%	108 (25.2%)	176 (41.0%)	128 (29.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.5%)	$15,437			$1,481			$13,957	28.6	39.2	786	145
173675003780	932	Coolidge Middle School	Public	6-8	15500 7th Ave	Phoenix	60426	Cook County	South Holland School District 151	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(708) 339-5300	507	45	11.3	99.8%	2 (0.4%)	339 (66.9%)	155 (30.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	7 (1.4%)	$18,183			$4,102			$14,081	28.6	28	948	16
170810000425	933	Lincoln Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	410 157th St	Calumet City	60409	Cook County	Lincoln Education Service District 156	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 862-6620	772	49	15.7	99.0%	18 (2.3%)	439 (56.9%)	309 (40.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	$19,681			$2,720			$16,961	28.4	32.4	885	48
170993005799	934	Legacy Elementary Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	3318 W Ogden Ave	Chicago	60623	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 542-1640	449	19	23.1	93.5%	3 (0.7%)	420 (93.5%)	22 (4.9%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$22,424			$1,975			$20,449	28.3	26.2	985	51
170993000836	935	Hearst Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4640 S Lamon Ave	Chicago	60638	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-2376	302	28	10.9	85.4%	4 (1.3%)	98 (32.5%)	196 (64.9%)	2 (0.7%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$26,912			$3,722			$23,190	28.3	15.6	1214	279
170927000535	936	Centralia Junior High School	Public	4-8	900 S Pine St	Centralia	62801	Marion County	Centralia School District 135	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 532-1907	604	45	13.4	99.7%	371 (61.4%)	108 (17.9%)	27 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	93 (15.4%)	$16,539			$2,287			$14,252	28.3	37.1	815	121
170993000603	937	Beidler Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3151 W Walnut St	Chicago	60612	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-6811	261	22	11.8	96.6%	0 (0.0%)	249 (95.4%)	12 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$23,641			$3,491			$20,150	28.2	17.1	1182	245
172385002600	938	Washington Middle School	Public	6-8	8101 Ogden Ave	Lyons	60534	Cook County	Lyons School District 103	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(708) 783-4200	688	58	11.8	69.9%	105 (15.3%)	37 (5.4%)	532 (77.3%)	7 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.0%)	$19,143			$563			$18,580	28.2	23.8	1030	92
170993001120	939	Taylor Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	9912 S Avenue H	Chicago	60617	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-6240	337	31	11	92.9%	26 (7.7%)	28 (8.3%)	280 (83.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$22,830			$3,441			$19,390	28.2	29.5	923	16
173209003356	940	Potomac Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	7915 US Route 136	Potomac	61865	Vermilion County	Potomac CUSD 10	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 987-6155	143	15	9.5	55.2%	128 (89.5%)	3 (2.1%)	3 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (6.3%)	$16,366			$592			$15,774	28.1	57.8	476	464

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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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.