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!

JUST IN! Illinois IAR test scores and updated rankings for the 2023-24 school year were recently posted to SchoolDigger!

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.

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)
172448005035	611	Kaneland Harter Middle School	Public	6-8	1601 N Esker Dr	Sugar Grove	60554	Kane County	Kaneland CUSD 302	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(630) 466-8400	894	68	13.1	14.0%	696 (77.9%)	22 (2.5%)	126 (14.1%)	15 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	31 (3.5%)	$17,915			$369			$17,546	48.3	48.5	619	8
172862005695	612	Kingsley Junior High School	Public	6-8	303 Kingsley St	Normal	61761	McLean County	McLean County Unified School District 5	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(309) 557-4407	753	53	14.2	38.2%	485 (64.4%)	128 (17.0%)	51 (6.8%)	38 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (6.8%)	$13,431			$429			$13,001	48.1	45.8	668	56
174119005945	613	Matthews Middle School	Public	6-8	3500 Darrell Rd.	Island Lake	60042	Lake County	Wauconda CUSD 118	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 526-6210	510	42	12.2	42.0%	273 (53.5%)	13 (2.5%)	185 (36.3%)	19 (3.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.7%)	$19,504			$722			$18,782	47.9	48.7	613
170993001043	614	Prussing Elementary School	Public	K-8	4650 N Menard Ave	Chicago	60630	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-3460	620	45	13.7	69.5%	271 (43.7%)	9 (1.5%)	284 (45.8%)	36 (5.8%)	3 (0.5%)	3 (0.5%)	14 (2.3%)	$16,799			$2,829			$13,970	47.9	42	731	117
170993006471	615	LEARN Charter - Butler	Public, Charter	K-8	1132 S Homan Ave	Chicago	60624	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(773) 722-0200	515	3	171.6	94.2%	0 (0.0%)	486 (94.4%)	9 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (3.9%)	$21,293			$3,530			$17,762	47.9	26.1	988	373
171272001526	616	Dupo Junior High School	Public	7-8	600 Louisa Ave	Dupo	62239	St. Clair County	Community Unit School District No 196	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 286-3214	144	13	10.9	64.6%	120 (83.3%)	7 (4.9%)	6 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (7.6%)	$17,452			$2,180			$15,272	47.9	46.4	658	42
171542001849	617	Parker Junior High School	Public	6-8	2810 School St	Flossmoor	60422	Cook County	Flossmoor School District 161	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 647-5400	858	64	13.4	42.0%	86 (10.0%)	588 (68.5%)	128 (14.9%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	51 (5.9%)	$18,249			$1,086			$17,163	47.8	43	714	97
170000505127	618	Prairie Central Junior High School	Public	7-8	800 N Wood St	Forrest	61741	Livingston County	Prairie Central CUSD 8	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 657-8660	228	21	11.1	42.5%	193 (84.6%)	1 (0.4%)	24 (10.5%)	4 (1.8%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.2%)	$15,256			$1,253			$14,004	47.8	64.2	397	221
171356000654	619	Effingham Junior High School	Public	6-8	600 S Henrietta St	Effingham	62401	Effingham County	Effingham CUSD 40	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 540-1300	522	34	15.2	47.7%	460 (88.1%)	6 (1.1%)	41 (7.9%)	5 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.9%)	$13,743			$556			$13,188	47.7	53.8	532	87
170993006139	620	Garcia Lorca Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3231 N Springfield Ave	Chicago	60618	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-0950	626	49	12.9	89.8%	23 (3.7%)	14 (2.2%)	583 (93.1%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	$19,305			$3,511			$15,794	47.7	45.5	677	57

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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:

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Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.