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)
174299004315	961	Shawnee Junior High School	Public	6-8	3365 State Hwy 3 N	Wolf Lake	62998	Union County	Shawnee CUSD 84	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 833-5307	76	5	16.5	76.3%	68 (89.5%)	3 (3.9%)	2 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.9%)	$12,575			$1,900			$10,675	26.9	25.6	999	38
170993005803	962	Tarkington Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3330 W 71st St	Chicago	60629	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-4700	861	61	14.1	93.4%	5 (0.6%)	154 (17.9%)	697 (81.0%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$16,696			$2,939			$13,756	26.8	24.8	1010	48
170993006505	963	Acero Charter Network - Jovita Idar	Public, Charter	K-8	5050 S Homan Ave	Chicago	60632	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(312) 455-5450	530	28	18.9	90.9%	6 (1.1%)	2 (0.4%)	522 (98.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,420			$1,737			$14,683	26.8	39.2	787	176
170993005692	964	North River Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4416 N Troy St	Chicago	60625	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-0590	284	24	12	74.6%	12 (4.2%)	6 (2.1%)	236 (83.1%)	11 (3.9%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (6.0%)	$19,638			$3,175			$16,463	26.6	37.1	816	148
173216003365	965	Pontiac Junior High School	Public	6-8	600 N Morrow St	Pontiac	61764	Livingston County	Pontiac CCSD 429	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 842-4343	324	28	11.6	54.6%	230 (71.0%)	14 (4.3%)	58 (17.9%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (6.5%)	$16,163			$649			$15,513	26.6	23.3	1039	74
170993001144	966	Wadsworth Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	6650 S Ellis Ave	Chicago	60637	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-0730	475	31	15.3	91.8%	0 (0.0%)	446 (93.9%)	23 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.3%)	$17,932			$4,116			$13,815	26.6	18.3	1152	186
173339003457	967	Rhodes Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	8931 Fullerton Ave	River Grove	60171	Cook County	Rhodes School District 84-5	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 453-6813	504	67	7.5	65.5%	108 (21.4%)	33 (6.5%)	351 (69.6%)	7 (1.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	$31,749			$527			$31,222	26.6	32.5	884	83
173099003226	968	Seymour High School	Public	7-12	420 W Brainard St	Payson	62360	Adams County	Payson CUSD 1	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 656-3355	229	17	13.1	48.5%	211 (92.1%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (6.6%)	$12,764			$429			$12,335	26.6	45.5	676	292
172202002470	969	Memorial Junior High School	Public	6-8	2721 Ridge Rd	Lansing	60438	Cook County	Lansing School District 158	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 474-2383	863	52	16.5	99.0%	61 (7.1%)	494 (57.2%)	247 (28.6%)	7 (0.8%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	50 (5.8%)	$15,379			$1,109			$14,270	26.5	26.8	971	2
171125001347	970	Crete-Monee Middle School	Public	6-8	635 Olmstead Ln	University Park	60484	Will County	Crete Monee CUSD 201U	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 367-2400	983	88	11.1	99.6%	139 (14.1%)	593 (60.3%)	195 (19.8%)	5 (0.5%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (4.9%)	$20,577			$1,200			$19,377	26.5	31.3	896	74

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.