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)
173042003154	131	Plum Grove Junior High School	Public	7-8	2600 Plum Grove Rd	Rolling Meadows	60008	Cook County	Palatine CCSD 15	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(847) 963-7600	834	50	16.7	17.1%	360 (43.2%)	32 (3.8%)	73 (8.8%)	336 (40.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (3.8%)	$14,964			$593			$14,371	88.2	86.4	153	22
172610005621	132	Millburn Middle School	Public	6-8	640 Freedom Way	Lindenhurst	60046	Lake County	Millburn CCSD 24	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(847) 245-1600	394	30	13.1	19.5%	265 (67.3%)	19 (4.8%)	48 (12.2%)	40 (10.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (5.3%)	$18,492			$413			$18,080	88.2	88.7	123	9
170993000988	133	Nettelhorst Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3252 N Broadway St	Chicago	60657	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(773) 534-5810	650	45	14.3	20.3%	360 (55.4%)	51 (7.8%)	93 (14.3%)	68 (10.5%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	75 (11.5%)	$17,562			$2,580			$14,982	88.1	81.8	201	68
170993001096	134	Skinner Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	111 S Throop St	Chicago	60607	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(773) 534-7790	1,049	64	16.5	23.4%	266 (25.4%)	255 (24.3%)	136 (13.0%)	311 (29.6%)	10 (1.0%)	3 (0.3%)	68 (6.5%)	$15,159			$1,805			$13,354	88.1	89.7	115	19
170993002031	135	Brooks College Prep Academy High School	Public	7-12	250 E 111th St	Chicago	60628	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-9930	982	59	16.6	63.6%	14 (1.4%)	775 (78.9%)	181 (18.4%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.7%)	$17,616			$2,637			$14,979	87.9	82.4	195	60
170783005957	136	Prairie Knolls Middle School	Public	6-7	225 Nesler Rd	Elgin	60124	Kane County	Central CUSD 301	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 717-8100	777	44	17.5	17.1%	469 (60.4%)	20 (2.6%)	135 (17.4%)	115 (14.8%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (4.6%)	$13,890			$416			$13,474	87.7	91.8	93	43
173084002472	137	Emerson Middle School	Public	6-8	8101 N Cumberland Ave	Niles	60714	Cook County	Park Ridge CCSD 64	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 318-8110	879	74	11.8		701 (79.7%)	10 (1.1%)	75 (8.5%)	70 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (0.9%)	15 (1.7%)	$18,281			$446			$17,836	87.7	84.8	171	34
172163002429	138	Wm F Gurrie Middle School	Public	7-8	1001 S Spring Ave	La Grange	60525	Cook County	La Grange School District 105 South	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(708) 482-2720	272	30	9	35.7%	148 (54.4%)	6 (2.2%)	101 (37.1%)	5 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.4%)	$25,196			$878			$24,318	87.7	80.1	224	86
171392001735	139	Tri-Valley Middle School	Public	4-8	505 E Washington St	Downs	61736	McLean County	Tri Valley CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 378-3414	457	32	14.1	9.2%	408 (89.3%)	6 (1.3%)	19 (4.2%)	6 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.9%)	$20,271			$218			$20,053	87.2	92.4	82	57
174218005558	140	Monroe Middle School	Public	6-8	1855 Manchester Rd	Wheaton	60187	DuPage County	Cusd 200	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(630) 682-2285	692	56	12.2	37.3%	416 (60.1%)	64 (9.2%)	116 (16.8%)	63 (9.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	31 (4.5%)	$17,801			$1,382			$16,419	87.2	85.7	161	21

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for IL student subgroups:

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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:

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Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.