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)
171095005419	1191	Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center	Public	5-8	800 E 14th St	Ford Heights	60411	Cook County	Ford Heights School District 169	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 758-1400	139	13	11.1	96.4%	0 (0.0%)	127 (91.4%)	12 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$27,916			$2,298			$25,618	16.3	12.8	1287	96
171371001675	1192	Kimball Middle School	Public	7-8	451 N McLean Blvd	Elgin	60123	Kane County	School District U-46	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 888-5290	492	39	12.5	59.8%	56 (11.4%)	43 (8.7%)	366 (74.4%)	7 (1.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.7%)	$20,774			$1,792			$18,982	16.3	21.5	1086	106
170993000914	1193	Courtenay Elementary Language Arts Center	Public	PK, KG-8	4420 N Beacon St	Chicago	60640	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-5790	303	30	10.1	91.7%	17 (5.6%)	116 (38.3%)	151 (49.8%)	10 (3.3%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.3%)	$30,943			$5,145			$25,798	16.3	23.5	1034	159
170993001193	1194	Hay Elementary Community Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	1018 N Laramie Ave	Chicago	60651	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-6000	262	23	11.6	96.2%	2 (0.8%)	194 (74.0%)	63 (24.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	$23,804			$4,852			$18,952	16.3	16.2	1200	6
170993004913	1195	Daley Elementary Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	5024 S Wolcott Ave	Chicago	60609	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-9091	502	32	15.5	98.0%	4 (0.8%)	56 (11.2%)	441 (87.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$18,041			$3,498			$14,542	16.3	9.1	1354	159
170011004813	1196	Neal Math Science Academy	Public	6-8	1905 Argonne Dr	North Chicago	60064	Lake County	North Chicago School District 187	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(847) 689-6313	545	39	13.9	98.3%	15 (2.8%)	189 (34.7%)	322 (59.1%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (2.9%)	$20,679			$3,095			$17,584	16.1	13.3	1274	78
173996004017	1197	Urbana Middle School	Public	6-8	1201 S Vine St	Urbana	61801	Champaign County	Urbana School District 116	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 384-3685	911	75	12.1	75.9%	229 (25.1%)	367 (40.3%)	190 (20.9%)	27 (3.0%)	10 (1.1%)	1 (0.1%)	84 (9.2%)	$18,114			$2,432			$15,683	16.1	19.7	1119	78
173123005336	1198	Mark W Bills Middle School	Public	5-8	6001 N Frostwood Pkwy	Peoria	61615	Peoria County	Peoria School District 150	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 693-4437	262	19	14.1	74.8%	47 (17.9%)	157 (59.9%)	26 (9.9%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (11.5%)	$18,694			$2,484			$16,210	16.1	28.9	937	261
170993000656	1199	Cather Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2908 W Washington Blvd	Chicago	60612	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-6780	325	32	10.3	96.9%	1 (0.3%)	307 (94.5%)	13 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	$25,958			$4,411			$21,546	16	11.1	1319	120
170855004910	1200	Carpentersville Middle School	Public	6-8	100 Cleveland Ave	Carpentersville	60118	Kane County	Cusd 300	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 426-1380	1,169	88	13.2	79.8%	60 (5.1%)	67 (5.7%)	1,023 (87.5%)	6 (0.5%)	4 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	8 (0.7%)	$15,961			$1,140			$14,821	16	16.2	1199	1

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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

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.