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)
171332004977	1251	Mason/Clark Middle School	Public	5-8	5510 State St	East Saint Louis	62203	St. Clair County	East St Louis School District 189	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(618) 646-3750	599	55	10.8	96.8%	6 (1.0%)	566 (94.5%)	18 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	7 (1.2%)	$27,534			$7,256			$20,277	14	15.1	1229	22
174125004131	1252	Jack Benny Middle School	Public	6-8	1401 Montesano Ave	Waukegan	60087	Lake County	Waukegan CUSD 60	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(224) 303-2470	506	18	28.1	64.2%	23 (4.5%)	49 (9.7%)	389 (76.9%)	24 (4.7%)	7 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.8%)	$21,039			$1,924			$19,115	13.8	15.1	1228	24
170993006508	1253	Acero Charter Sor Juana Ines de la	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	7416 N Ridge Blvd	Chicago	60645	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(312) 455-5440	501	46	10.8	93.0%	14 (2.8%)	244 (48.7%)	223 (44.5%)	5 (1.0%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.4%)	$25,329			$2,396			$22,933	13.8	17.2	1178	75
170993006503	1254	Perspectives Charter - Joslin Campus	Public, Charter	6-12	1930 S Archer Ave	Chicago	60616	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(312) 225-7400	334	0		93.4%	2 (0.6%)	323 (96.7%)	7 (2.1%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$2,681			$247			$2,434	13.7	17.4	1169	85
170993000787	1255	Kanoon Elementary Magnet School	Public	PK, KG-8	2233 S Kedzie Ave	Chicago	60623	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-1736	373	34	10.9	97.1%	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.3%)	368 (98.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,017			$3,743			$17,274	13.6	20.2	1107	148
170993001136	1256	Walsh Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2015 S Peoria St	Chicago	60608	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-7950	242	27	8.8	73.1%	7 (2.9%)	54 (22.3%)	164 (67.8%)	13 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.7%)	$27,199			$4,219			$22,979	13.6	21.7	1081	175
170531000216	1257	Beardstown Junior/Senior High School	Public	5-12	500 E 15th St	Beardstown	62618	Cass County	Beardstown CUSD 15	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 323-3665	837	58	14.5	74.0%	243 (29.0%)	89 (10.6%)	466 (55.7%)	12 (1.4%)	5 (0.6%)	4 (0.5%)	17 (2.0%)	$12,594			$1,325			$11,269	13.5	18.2	1156	101
170993001151	1258	Westcott Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	409 W 80th St	Chicago	60620	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-3090	409	26	16	85.6%	0 (0.0%)	396 (96.8%)	11 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$20,542			$3,762			$16,780	13.4	13	1284	26
170993000611	1259	Bond Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	7050 S May St	Chicago	60621	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-3480	259	23	11.2	90.3%	0 (0.0%)	238 (91.9%)	19 (7.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$27,099			$4,201			$22,898	13.4	12	1304	45
170993000985	1260	Nash Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4837 W Erie St	Chicago	60644	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-6125	269	21	12.8	94.1%	2 (0.7%)	194 (72.1%)	69 (25.7%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.1%)	$25,158			$4,323			$20,835	13.2	9.4	1348	88

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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:

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

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.