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)
170993001156	951	Joplin Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	7931 S Honore St	Chicago	60620	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-3425	277	26	10.6	94.9%	1 (0.4%)	252 (91.0%)	23 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$23,933			$4,730			$19,203	27.5	19.4	1126	175
174125004138	952	John R Lewis Middle School	Public	6-8	600 S Lewis Ave	Waukegan	60085	Lake County	Waukegan CUSD 60	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(224) 303-2560	762	43	17.7	77.6%	21 (2.8%)	121 (15.9%)	601 (78.9%)	6 (0.8%)	8 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.7%)	$24,012			$2,186			$21,826	27.5	26.8	969	17
172640002818	953	John Deere Middle School	Public	6-8	2035 11th St	Moline	61265	Rock Island County	Moline-Coal Valley CUSD 40	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 743-1622	744	50	14.8	62.4%	327 (44.0%)	71 (9.5%)	271 (36.4%)	14 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	56 (7.5%)	$15,119			$1,208			$13,911	27.5	24.4	1016	63
170993005930	954	Frazier Perspectives Magnet Elementary School	Public	K-8	4027 W Grenshaw St	Chicago	60624	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-6880	133	15	8.8	89.5%	0 (0.0%)	126 (94.7%)	7 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$31,893			$5,470			$26,423	27.4	32	890	64
171206004602	955	Delavan Junior High School	Public	7-8	907 Locust St	Delavan	61734	Tazewell County	Delavan CUSD 703	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 244-8285	59	6	10.5	52.5%	55 (93.2%)	2 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.7%)	$14,878			$753			$14,125	27.4	27.5	956	1
170993000883	956	Kershaw Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	6450 S Lowe Ave	Chicago	60621	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-3050	207	22	9.3	94.2%	0 (0.0%)	201 (97.1%)	5 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	$31,577			$5,306			$26,271	27.3	21.8	1076	120
170993001039	957	Portage Park Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	5330 W Berteau Ave	Chicago	60641	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-3576	894	63	14.1	69.5%	248 (27.7%)	34 (3.8%)	548 (61.3%)	22 (2.5%)	8 (0.9%)	3 (0.3%)	31 (3.5%)	$18,449			$2,398			$16,051	27.3	36.8	823	134
170951004940	958	Chaney-Monge School	Public	K-8	400 Elsie Ave	Crest Hill	60403	Will County	Chaney-Monge School District 88	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 722-6673	451	0		80.5%	129 (28.6%)	49 (10.9%)	238 (52.8%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (6.9%)	$19,265			$1,403			$17,862	27.2	26.1	989	31
170993000875	959	Jensen Elementary Scholastic Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	3030 W Harrison St	Chicago	60612	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-6840	249	24	10.3	96.8%	0 (0.0%)	244 (98.0%)	4 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$25,712			$4,381			$21,331	27	22.1	1071	112
172058002326	960	Dirksen Junior High School	Public	6-8	203 S Midland Ave	Joliet	60436	Will County	Joliet PSD 86	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 729-1566	655	46	14.1	97.4%	60 (9.2%)	152 (23.2%)	411 (62.7%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (4.6%)	$20,359			$1,823			$18,536	27	17.3	1175	215

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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.