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)
171350001634	231	Albion Grade School	Public	PK, KG-8	361 W Main St	Albion	62806	Edwards County	Edwards County CUSD 1	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 445-2327	406	30	13.4	45.3%	383 (94.3%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.4%)	$11,094			$1,215			$9,879	79.4	73.1	298	67
173651003763	232	Smithton Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	316 S Hickory St	Smithton	62285	St. Clair County	Smithton CCSD 130	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 233-6863	546	38	14.3	16.5%	518 (94.9%)	13 (2.4%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.2%)	$11,552			$865			$10,687	79.4	88.6	125	107
173283001844	233	PLT Middle School	Public	6-8	38 Ferry St	Prophetstown	61277	Whiteside County	Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico CUSD3	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 537-5084	169	12	13.7	61.5%	156 (92.3%)	2 (1.2%)	2 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.6%)	$14,425			$1,286			$13,138	79.3	81.8	199	34
170993000890	234	Kinzie Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	5625 S Mobile Ave	Chicago	60638	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-2425	676	51	13.2	71.9%	106 (15.7%)	34 (5.0%)	525 (77.7%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.9%)	$20,643			$2,729			$17,914	79.2	87.2	136	98
170940005404	235	Chadwick-Milledgeville Junior High School	Public	6-12	100 E 8th St	Milledgeville	61051	Carroll County	Chadwick-Milledgeville CUSD 399	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 225-7141	183	19	9.6	39.3%	166 (90.7%)	1 (0.5%)	9 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.8%)	$17,806			$727			$17,079	79.1	70.6	321	86
173174005748	236	Richard Ira Jones Middle School	Public	6-8	15320 W Wallin Dr	Plainfield	60544	Will County	Plainfield School District 202	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 267-3600	851	54	15.6	24.0%	508 (59.7%)	91 (10.7%)	133 (15.6%)	88 (10.3%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	28 (3.3%)	$13,788			$1,130			$12,658	79	83.1	188	48
172814002970	237	Alex M Martino Junior High School	Public	7-8	731 E Joliet Hwy	New Lenox	60451	Will County	New Lenox School District 122	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 485-7593	565	37	15.2	12.4%	482 (85.3%)	5 (0.9%)	57 (10.1%)	4 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (2.8%)	$13,386			$411			$12,975	79	77.9	240	3
172253002511	238	Lena-Winslow Junior High School	Public	6-8	517 Fremont St	Lena	61048	Stephenson County	Lena Winslow CUSD 202	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 369-2525	169	14	12.2	39.6%	153 (90.5%)	2 (1.2%)	8 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	4 (2.4%)	$10,338			$297			$10,042	78.9	86.7	147	91
172325002559	239	Litchfield Middle School	Public	6-8	1701 N State St	Litchfield	62056	Montgomery County	Litchfield CUSD 12	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 324-4668	271	23	12	60.1%	252 (93.0%)	2 (0.7%)	5 (1.8%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.3%)	$14,263			$1,662			$12,601	78.8	76.8	250	11
173375003470	240	Riley Community Cons School	Public	K-8	9406 Riley Rd	Marengo	60152	McHenry County	Riley CCSD 18	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 568-8637	261	22	11.8	30.3%	191 (73.2%)	0 (0.0%)	67 (25.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.1%)	$18,002			$1,410			$16,592	78.8	73.4	293	53

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.