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)
171773002069	421	Pocahontas Center	Public	PK, KG-8	4 E State St	Pocahontas	62275	Bond County	Bond County CUSD 2	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 669-2296	183	18	10	55.2%	168 (91.8%)	1 (0.5%)	5 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.8%)	$14,864			$1,200			$13,663	62.5	63.4	402	19
170993001174	422	Dirksen Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	8601 W Foster Ave	Chicago	60656	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-1090	1,213	68	17.9	77.9%	785 (64.7%)	35 (2.9%)	119 (9.8%)	264 (21.8%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	7 (0.6%)	$14,288			$2,182			$12,106	62.4	54.2	526	104
170993001130	423	Twain Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	5134 S Lotus Ave	Chicago	60638	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-2290	876	57	15.3	76.5%	63 (7.2%)	16 (1.8%)	791 (90.3%)	5 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,325			$2,666			$13,659	62.3	67.1	363	60
170816000429	424	Cambridge Junior/Senior High School	Public	6-12	300 S West St	Cambridge	61238	Henry County	Cambridge CUSD 227	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(309) 937-2051	235	21	11.3	47.2%	232 (98.7%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$15,012			$2,081			$12,932	62.3	57.3	481	57
172862002996	425	Chiddix Junior High School	Public	6-8	300 S Walnut St	Normal	61761	McLean County	McLean County Unified School District 5	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(309) 557-4405	593	49	12.1	32.0%	352 (59.4%)	97 (16.4%)	29 (4.9%)	75 (12.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (6.7%)	$13,473			$470			$13,003	62.1	62.7	413	12
173174003338	426	Indian Trail Middle School	Public	6-8	14723 S Eastern Ave	Plainfield	60544	Will County	Plainfield School District 202	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 436-6128	541	43	12.5	42.7%	234 (43.3%)	81 (15.0%)	190 (35.1%)	16 (3.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.3%)	$16,348			$804			$15,544	62.1	58.5	462	36
170993001181	427	Armstrong G Elementary International Studies	Public	PK, KG-8	2110 W Greenleaf Ave	Chicago	60645	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-2150	1,261	85	14.8	85.7%	120 (9.5%)	363 (28.8%)	453 (35.9%)	297 (23.6%)	6 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (1.7%)	$16,083			$2,725			$13,358	62	70.2	328	99
171047005307	428	Jay Stream Middle School	Public	6-8	283 El Paso Ln	Carol Stream	60188	DuPage County	Ccsd 93	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(630) 588-5200	532	57	9.3	44.9%	215 (40.4%)	29 (5.5%)	174 (32.7%)	110 (20.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	$23,079			$196			$22,882	61.9	57.9	474	46
171276001531	429	Du Quoin Middle School	Public	5-8	845 E Jackson St	Du Quoin	62832	Perry County	Du Quoin CUSD 300	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 542-2646	371	31	11.9	52.3%	316 (85.2%)	13 (3.5%)	10 (2.7%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.8%)	$12,828			$1,472			$11,355	61.7	34	861	432
174026004049	430	Vienna Elementary School District 55	Public	PK, KG-8	310 N 3rd St	Vienna	62995	Johnson County	Vienna School District 55	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 658-6611	389	28	14	56.8%	356 (91.5%)	2 (0.5%)	12 (3.1%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (4.4%)	$13,020			$1,039			$11,981	61.7	65.9	382	48

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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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.