Best Middle Schools in Illinois

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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)
170993001064	851	Ruggles Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	7831 S Prairie Ave	Chicago	60619	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-3085	316	24	13.1	96.2%	0 (0.0%)	307 (97.2%)	7 (2.2%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$24,266			$5,695			$18,571	33	15.4	1221	370
170138105943	852	La Harpe Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	404 W Main St	La Harpe	61450	Hancock County	La Harpe Central School District 347	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 659-7739	200	16	12.6	53.0%	186 (93.0%)	6 (3.0%)	4 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.0%)	$17,462			$1,931			$15,531	32.9	59.8	444	408
170993000661	853	Clay Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	13231 S Burley Ave	Chicago	60633	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-5600	532	40	13.3	91.9%	33 (6.2%)	98 (18.4%)	386 (72.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.6%)	$18,196			$2,697			$15,499	32.9	23.6	1033	180
173852003927	854	Taft Grade School	Public	PK, KG-8	1605 S Washington St	Lockport	60441	Will County	Taft School District 90	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 838-0408	276	21	13.4	42.8%	177 (64.1%)	2 (0.7%)	61 (22.1%)	8 (2.9%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (9.8%)	$16,642			$1,014			$15,627	32.9	40.2	769	85
170993006512	855	CICS - Washington Pk Campus	Public, Charter	K-8	110 E 61st St	Chicago	60637	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(773) 347-0200	486	19	25.5	94.4%	0 (0.0%)	468 (96.3%)	13 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	$19,684			$164			$19,521	32.8	44.8	693	162
170993006474	856	Acero Charter-Brighton Park Elementary School	Public, Charter	K-8	4420 S Fairfield Ave	Chicago	60632	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(312) 455-5434	534	30	17.8		1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	529 (99.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$17,933			$2,091			$15,842	32.8	25.3	1005	149
170015302517	857	Lewistown Junior/Senior High School	Public	7-12	15205 N State 100 Hwy	Lewistown	61542	Fulton County	Lewistown CUSD 97	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 547-2288	276	22	12.7	51.8%	265 (96.0%)	1 (0.4%)	5 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.8%)	$14,598			$1,337			$13,261	32.8	41.5	745	112
170993006482	858	Acero Charter - Octavio Paz Elementary School	Public, Charter	K-8	2651 W 23rd St	Chicago	60608	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(773) 890-1054	173	19	9.1		2 (1.2%)	9 (5.2%)	161 (93.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	$44,133			$2,138			$41,995	32.3	13.8	1257	399
170993001065	859	Ryder Elementary Math & Sci Special School	Public	PK, KG-8	8716 S Wallace St	Chicago	60620	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-3843	351	35	10.1	89.2%	1 (0.3%)	341 (97.2%)	7 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$28,275			$4,009			$24,265	32.3	18.9	1140	281
170993001073	860	Scammon Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4201 W Henderson St	Chicago	60641	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-3475	641	47	13.7	92.2%	44 (6.9%)	20 (3.1%)	562 (87.7%)	9 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.9%)	$17,435			$3,103			$14,332	32.3	52.1	569	291

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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

Public School Districts and Their Services: 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.