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)
170543004523	531	Beecher Junior High School	Public	6-8	101 E Church Rd	Beecher	60401	Will County	Beecher CUSD 200U	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(708) 946-3412	246	19	13.1	27.6%	168 (68.3%)	12 (4.9%)	56 (22.8%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.3%)	$14,244			$565			$13,679	54.5	44.6	697	166
170141006254	532	Horizon Science Academy-McKinley Pk	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2245 W Pershing Rd	Chicago	60609	Cook County	Horizon Science Academy-McKinley Pk	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 247-8400	866	71	12.2	99.2%	32 (3.7%)	69 (8.0%)	733 (84.6%)	8 (0.9%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	21 (2.4%)	$17,282			$3,187			$14,095	54.5	48.4	620	88
172631002799	533	Minooka Junior High School	Public	7-8	333 W McEvilly Rd	Minooka	60447	Grundy County	Minooka CCSD 201	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 467-2136	1,058	64	16.5	26.1%	725 (68.5%)	48 (4.5%)	229 (21.6%)	15 (1.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (3.8%)	$12,354			$321			$12,033	54.4	48	626	93
172904003218	534	Norwood Elementary School	Public	5-8	6521 W Farmington Rd	Peoria	61604	Peoria County	Norwood Education Service District 63	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 676-3683	165	13	12.6	61.2%	127 (77.0%)	7 (4.2%)	11 (6.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (12.1%)	$20,393			$2,264			$18,129	54.4	50.9	586	52
173696003808	535	Spoon River Valley Junior High School	Public	6-8	35265 N IL Route 97	London Mills	61544	Fulton County	Spoon River Valley CUSD 4	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(309) 778-2201	50	5	10.5	54.0%	47 (94.0%)	1 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.0%)	$18,534			$519			$18,016	54.4	56.5	490	45
172754002914	536	Carl Sandburg Middle School	Public	6-8	855 W Hawley St	Mundelein	60060	Lake County	Mundelein Education Service District 75	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 949-2707	539	45	11.9	46.0%	182 (33.8%)	23 (4.3%)	295 (54.7%)	21 (3.9%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.0%)	$19,463			$1,255			$18,208	54.4	48	627	91
174074004094	537	Warren Junior/Senior High School	Public	6-12	311 S Water St	Warren	61087	Jo Daviess County	Warren CUSD 205	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 745-2641	203	20	10.2	36.9%	191 (94.1%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.5%)	$17,612			$988			$16,624	54.3	47.6	635	98
171371005612	538	Kenyon Woods Middle School	Public	7-8	1515 Raymond St	South Elgin	60177	Kane County	School District U-46	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(847) 289-6685	905	54	16.6	35.7%	347 (38.3%)	38 (4.2%)	360 (39.8%)	117 (12.9%)	4 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	38 (4.2%)	$18,797			$1,629			$17,168	54.2	49.6	597	59
173537004314	539	Sandwich Middle School	Public	6-8	600 S Wells St	Sandwich	60548	DeKalb County	Sandwich CUSD 430	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 786-2138	438	34	13	44.3%	318 (72.6%)	5 (1.1%)	94 (21.5%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	17 (3.9%)	$15,968			$1,128			$14,840	54.1	56.4	491	48
171545001858	540	Forest Park Middle School	Public	6-8	925 Beloit Ave	Forest Park	60130	Cook County	Forest Park School District 91	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 366-5742	160	18	9.1	62.5%	26 (16.3%)	85 (53.1%)	37 (23.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (6.9%)	$29,990			$2,488			$27,502	54	36.9	821	281

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.