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)
171953002230	551	James Hart School	Public	6-8	18220 Morgan St	Homewood	60430	Cook County	Homewood School District 153	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 799-5544	703	57	12.3	44.2%	152 (21.6%)	394 (56.0%)	104 (14.8%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	48 (6.8%)	$16,535			$621			$15,914	53.4	42.2	728	177
170822005402	552	Central Junior High School	Public	5-8	2110 Highway 94 N	Camp Point	62320	Adams County	Central CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 593-7741	220	18	12.1	43.6%	207 (94.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.3%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.7%)	$13,474			$3,493			$9,981	53.3	59.7	445	107
173105005648	553	Pecatonica Community Middle School	Public	5-8	1200 Main St	Pecatonica	61063	Winnebago County	Pecatonica CUSD 321	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 239-2612	256	20	12.8	30.1%	221 (86.3%)	6 (2.3%)	14 (5.5%)	2 (0.8%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.7%)	$13,314			$408			$12,906	53.3	73	299	254
173459003625	554	Rome Community Cons Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	233 W South St	Dix	62830	Jefferson County	Rome CCSD 2	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 266-7214	321	26	12.4	51.4%	290 (90.3%)	11 (3.4%)	3 (0.9%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.7%)	$13,385			$1,169			$12,216	53.2	45	690	136
172100005610	555	Central Junior High	Public	7-8	215 E Central Blvd	Kewanee	61443	Henry County	Kewanee CUSD 229	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 853-4290	218	15	14.7	77.1%	115 (52.8%)	23 (10.6%)	60 (27.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (9.2%)	$15,663			$2,171			$13,492	53.2	49.4	601	46
170993000618	556	Bridge Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3800 N New England Ave	Chicago	60634	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-3718	1,112	70	15.8	59.4%	362 (32.6%)	25 (2.2%)	646 (58.1%)	50 (4.5%)	4 (0.4%)	4 (0.4%)	21 (1.9%)	$15,542			$2,564			$12,979	53.2	47.1	646	90
170426000140	557	Atwood-Hammond Grade School	Public	PK, KG-8	316 N Illinois St	Atwood	61913	Douglas County	Arthur CUSD 305	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 578-2229	232	20	11.6	59.5%	219 (94.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (4.3%)	$13,705			$2,400			$11,304	53.2	36.1	833	276
171635001949	558	Geneseo Middle School	Public	6-8	333 E Ogden Ave	Geneseo	61254	Henry County	Geneseo CUSD 228	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(309) 945-0599	592	41	14.5	29.4%	529 (89.4%)	5 (0.8%)	33 (5.6%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (3.4%)	$15,968			$132			$15,836	53.1	59.1	453	105
170993001614	559	Wells Preparatory Elementary Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	249 E 37th St	Chicago	60653	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-1204	314	23	13.6	80.3%	0 (0.0%)	295 (93.9%)	14 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.6%)	$23,637			$4,045			$19,592	53	49.7	595	36
174179004185	560	Westchester Middle School	Public	6-8	1620 Norfolk Ave	Westchester	60154	Cook County	Westchester School District 92-5	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 450-2700	354	30	11.8	47.2%	91 (25.7%)	104 (29.4%)	138 (39.0%)	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (4.5%)	$16,381			$845			$15,536	52.8	57.8	475	85

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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

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.