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)
173780003885	641	Steward Elementary School	Public	K-8	602 Main St	Steward	60553	Lee County	Steward Education Service District 220	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(815) 396-2413	70	11	6.4	25.7%	55 (78.6%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (14.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (5.7%)	$24,414			$1,136			$23,279	46.9	84.5	174	467
172519002750	642	Mazon-Verona-Kinsman Middle School	Public	5-8	1013 North St	Mazon	60444	Grundy County	Mazon-Verona-Kinsman Education Service District 2C	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 448-2127	145	11	12.9	32.4%	126 (86.9%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (13.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,403			$1,192			$15,210	46.8	60.4	440	202
170993000892	643	Kipling Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	9351 S Lowe Ave	Chicago	60620	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-3151	230	19	12.1	84.8%	0 (0.0%)	226 (98.3%)	3 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$23,105			$3,137			$19,968	46.8	27.1	964	321
172151002419	644	Ladd Community Cons School	Public	PK, KG-8	232 E Cleveland St	Ladd	61329	Bureau County	Ladd CCSD 94	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 894-2363	202	16	12.6	57.9%	155 (76.7%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (20.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.5%)	$14,641			$846			$13,794	46.8	49	610	34
170546000225	645	Beecher City Junior-Senior High School	Public	6-12	438 E State Highway 33	Beecher City	62414	Effingham County	Beecher City CUSD 20	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 487-5100	166	16	10.5	41.0%	158 (95.2%)	4 (2.4%)	1 (0.6%)	2 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	$13,646			$731			$12,915	46.7	58.7	458	187
170993006451	646	LEARN Charter - South Chicago Campus	Public, Charter	K-8	8914 S Buffalo Ave	Chicago	60617	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(773) 722-8577	419	4	104.7	88.8%	1 (0.2%)	376 (89.7%)	40 (9.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	$22,309			$1,395			$20,914	46.6	26.6	974	328
171665001969	647	Gifford Grade School	Public	K-8	406 S Main St	Gifford	61847	Champaign County	Gifford CCSD 188	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 568-7733	166	14	11.7	34.3%	145 (87.3%)	1 (0.6%)	5 (3.0%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (8.4%)	$13,988			$763			$13,226	46.5	54.5	523	124
170471005616	648	Herget Middle School	Public	6-8	1550 Deerpath Rd	Aurora	60506	Kane County	Aurora West Unified School District 129	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(630) 301-5006	584	47	12.4	44.7%	150 (25.7%)	54 (9.2%)	353 (60.4%)	11 (1.9%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	13 (2.2%)	$19,495			$2,110			$17,385	46.4	38	806	158
170993004722	649	National Teachers Elementary Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	55 W Cermak Rd	Chicago	60616	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-9970	757	47	16.2	60.9%	85 (11.2%)	546 (72.1%)	45 (5.9%)	38 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	41 (5.4%)	$16,060			$2,482			$13,579	46.4	45.3	684	35
170561000241	650	West Junior High School	Public	7-8	840 Royal Heights Rd	Belleville	62226	St. Clair County	Belleville School District 118	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 234-8200	422	30	13.9	76.3%	121 (28.7%)	241 (57.1%)	24 (5.7%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	32 (7.6%)	$18,809			$2,860			$15,948	46.4	47.4	640	10

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.