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)
171623001941	321	Gardner Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	598 N Elm St	Gardner	60424	Grundy County	Gardner CCSD 72C	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 237-2313	145	13	11.1	45.5%	133 (91.7%)	2 (1.4%)	9 (6.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	$17,730			$1,132			$16,598	72.3	70.7	319	2
170993000882	322	Kellogg Elementary School	Public	K-8	9241 S Leavitt St	Chicago	60643	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(773) 535-2590	289	23	12.8	39.8%	38 (13.1%)	239 (82.7%)	11 (3.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$20,953			$2,714			$18,239	72.1	81.4	209	113
170933000540	323	Cerro Gordo Junior and Senior High School	Public	6-12	300 E Durfee St	Cerro Gordo	61818	Piatt County	Cerro Gordo CUSD 100	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 763-2711	220	18	12.1	37.3%	206 (93.6%)	1 (0.5%)	10 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.4%)	$14,226			$524			$13,702	72	79.1	231	92
170011902198	324	Northwood Middle School	Public	6-8	945 North Ave	Highland Park	60035	Lake County	North Shore School District 112	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(224) 765-3600	532	49	10.7	41.5%	224 (42.1%)	5 (0.9%)	253 (47.6%)	18 (3.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (5.6%)	$24,813			$712			$24,101	72	67.8	353	29
173870003937	325	Taylorville Junior High School	Public	5-8	120 E Bidwell St	Taylorville	62568	Christian County	Taylorville CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 824-4924	650	43	15	48.9%	602 (92.6%)	6 (0.9%)	8 (1.2%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (4.8%)	$13,393			$848			$12,544	71.9	69.6	332	7
174083006189	326	Warrensburg-Latham Middle School	Public	6-8	425 W North St	Warrensburg	62573	Macon County	Warrensburg-Latham CUSD 11	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 672-3531	217	13	16.8	48.8%	173 (79.7%)	10 (4.6%)	8 (3.7%)	8 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (8.3%)	$10,674			$811			$9,863	71.9	60.6	436	110
173942006347	327	Wesclin Middle School	Public	4-8	10003 State Route 160	Trenton	62293	Clinton County	Wesclin CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(618) 224-7355	494	36	13.9	35.6%	423 (85.6%)	6 (1.2%)	34 (6.9%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	26 (5.3%)	$9,582			$1,022			$8,560	71.8	66.2	376	49
172850002476	328	Clarence E Culver School	Public	PK, KG-8	6901 W Oakton St	Niles	60714	Cook County	Niles Education Service District 71	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 470-3407	641	54	11.8	53.8%	328 (51.2%)	19 (3.0%)	109 (17.0%)	149 (23.2%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	32 (5.0%)	$20,471			$2,525			$17,946	71.6	75.7	264	64
174007004037	329	A Vito Martinez Middle School	Public	6-8	590 Belmont Dr	Romeoville	60446	Will County	Valley View CUSD 365U	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 886-6100	610	58	10.5	56.1%	130 (21.3%)	114 (18.7%)	312 (51.1%)	28 (4.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (4.1%)	$20,201			$957			$19,244	71.5	62.2	422	93
173609003739	330	Moulton Elementary School	Public	4-8	1101 W North 6th St	Shelbyville	62565	Shelby County	Shelbyville CUSD 4	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 774-2169	448	33	13.7	44.0%	420 (93.8%)	5 (1.1%)	7 (1.6%)	8 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.8%)	$11,148			$1,466			$9,682	71.4	66.1	379	49

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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:

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

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.