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)
170993000725	451	Dore Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	7134 W 65Th St	Chicago	60638	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(773) 535-2080	720	53	13.5	52.4%	149 (20.7%)	16 (2.2%)	538 (74.7%)	8 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	6 (0.8%)	$20,062			$2,780			$17,283	59.7	40.3	767	316
173561004828	452	Scales Mound Junior High School	Public	6-8	210 Main St	Scales Mound	61075	Jo Daviess County	Scales Mound CUSD 211	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 845-2215	61	6	10.5	23.0%	57 (93.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.6%)	1 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.3%)	$21,235			$136			$21,099	59.7	73.6	291	161
170717004585	453	Geo T Wilkins Junior High School	Public	7-8	8001 S 82nd Ave	Justice	60458	Cook County	Indian Springs School District 109	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 496-8708	497	45	10.9	59.8%	239 (48.1%)	75 (15.1%)	153 (30.8%)	6 (1.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (4.6%)	$19,423			$1,310			$18,113	59.7	64.1	398	55
172739002905	454	Mt Zion Junior High School	Public	7-8	315 S Henderson St	Mount Zion	62549	Macon County	Mt Zion CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 864-2369	403	21	19.5	24.3%	364 (90.3%)	6 (1.5%)	8 (2.0%)	8 (2.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (3.7%)	$10,418			$399			$10,019	59.6	76.2	256	198
170993006328	455	Great Lakes Academy Charter Elementary School	Public, Charter	K-8	8401 S Saginaw Ave	Chicago	60617	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 503-3040	524	36	14.5	87.0%	0 (0.0%)	472 (90.1%)	49 (9.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$18,162			$1,643			$16,518	59.5	61.8	423	32
173846003923	456	Sycamore Middle School	Public	6-8	150 Maplewood Dr	Sycamore	60178	DeKalb County	Sycamore CUSD 427	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(815) 899-8170	822	61	13.4	25.2%	666 (81.0%)	26 (3.2%)	91 (11.1%)	7 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (3.9%)	$14,557			$235			$14,322	59.3	53.8	533	77
170993001017	457	Palmer Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	5051 N Kenneth Ave	Chicago	60630	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-3704	735	50	14.7	67.3%	252 (34.3%)	16 (2.2%)	313 (42.6%)	117 (15.9%)	2 (0.3%)	9 (1.2%)	26 (3.5%)	$17,762			$2,798			$14,964	59.3	54.9	516	59
173027005820	458	Plank Junior High	Public	6-8	510 Secretariat Ln	Oswego	60543	Kendall County	Cusd 308	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(630) 551-9400	624	54	11.6	39.3%	292 (46.8%)	67 (10.7%)	204 (32.7%)	33 (5.3%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (4.2%)	$14,939			$700			$14,240	59.2	48.3	622	164
170993000729	459	Drummond Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1845 W Cortland St	Chicago	60622	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(773) 534-4120	301	24	12.8	14.6%	144 (47.8%)	21 (7.0%)	77 (25.6%)	19 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (13.3%)	$21,321			$2,511			$18,809	59.2	60.4	439	20
172816003817	460	New Simpson Hill District 32	Public	PK, KG-8	95 Tunnel Hill Rd	Tunnel Hill	62972	Johnson County	New Simpson Hill School District 32	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 658-8536	210	16	13.4	41.9%	206 (98.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.9%)	$13,676			$1,838			$11,838	59.1	63.2	404	56

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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.