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)
172187002459	711	Peter J Palombi School	Public	6-8	133 McKinley Ave	Lake Villa	60046	Lake County	Lake Villa CCSD 41	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(847) 356-2118	851	60	14.3	44.8%	449 (52.8%)	41 (4.8%)	286 (33.6%)	18 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	56 (6.6%)	$11,299			$366			$10,933	42.4	45.7	670	41
171422001765	712	Emge Junior High School	Public	7-8	7401 Westchester Dr	Belleville	62223	St. Clair County	Harmony Emge School District 175	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 397-6557	149	10	14.3	65.8%	45 (30.2%)	72 (48.3%)	5 (3.4%)	2 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	24 (16.1%)	$16,805			$3,479			$13,327	42.3	30.8	902	190
170918000527	713	Central City Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	129 Douglas St	Centralia	62801	Marion County	Central City School District 133	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 532-9521	298	23	12.9	54.4%	254 (85.2%)	6 (2.0%)	12 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (8.7%)	$12,950			$1,941			$11,010	42.2	34.2	858	145
170993001097	714	Smyser Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4310 N Melvina Ave	Chicago	60634	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-3711	765	53	14.5	66.3%	193 (25.2%)	29 (3.8%)	482 (63.0%)	43 (5.6%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (1.8%)	$17,431			$2,398			$15,034	42.2	39.2	788	74
173369003468	715	Simmons Middle School	Public	6-8	6450 W 95th St	Oak Lawn	60453	Cook County	Ridgeland School District 122	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(708) 599-8540	733	48	15.1	66.7%	380 (51.8%)	53 (7.2%)	263 (35.9%)	27 (3.7%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.0%)	$13,621			$1,286			$12,334	42	43.3	710	5
170993001214	716	Lee Elementary School	Public	K-8	6448 S Tripp Ave	Chicago	60629	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-2255	578	44	13.1	91.0%	3 (0.5%)	9 (1.6%)	566 (97.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$19,106			$3,594			$15,512	42	41.5	746	30
170993000952	717	Minnie Minoso Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	3527 S Wallace St	Chicago	60609	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-1732	315	26	12.3	91.4%	38 (12.1%)	144 (45.7%)	109 (34.6%)	15 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	7 (2.2%)	$26,701			$3,840			$22,861	41.9	48.2	624	93
170993000612	718	Mosaic School of Fine Arts	Public	PK, KG-8	6710 N Washtenaw Ave	Chicago	60645	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-2160	720	53	13.5	90.8%	94 (13.1%)	70 (9.7%)	280 (38.9%)	262 (36.4%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.3%)	$17,328			$3,263			$14,065	41.8	41.4	749	31
170942005407	719	Franklin Middle School	Public	6-8	817 N Harris Ave	Champaign	61820	Champaign County	Champaign CUSD 4	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 351-3819	632	53	11.9	47.6%	151 (23.9%)	269 (42.6%)	89 (14.1%)	72 (11.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	49 (7.8%)	$18,067			$2,532			$15,535	41.7	36.3	829	110
174245004267	720	Williamsfield Middle School	Public	5-8	325 W Kentucky Ave	Williamsfield	61489	Knox County	Williamsfield CUSD 210	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(309) 639-2219	70	8	8.3	40.0%	68 (97.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,601			$1,485			$20,115	41.6	36.9	817	97

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.