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)
170993001135	1281	Lavizzo Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	138 W 109th St	Chicago	60628	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-5300	334	25	13.4	97.9%	0 (0.0%)	323 (96.7%)	10 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,128			$4,238			$16,891	12.2	12.2	1297	16
170993000597	1282	Nicholson Technical Academy Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	6006 S Peoria St	Chicago	60621	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-3285	445	31	14.3	96.9%	1 (0.2%)	409 (91.9%)	33 (7.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$21,432			$4,061			$17,371	12.2	11.1	1318	36
174386006827	1283	Shiloh Park Middle School	Public	6-8	2635 Gabriel Ave	Zion	60099	Lake County	Zion Education Service District 6	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(847) 379-0400	351	27	13	82.6%	8 (2.3%)	114 (32.5%)	210 (59.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.4%)	$24,904			$977			$23,927	12.2	10.5	1330	47
171082001321	1284	Westville Junior High School	Public	7-8	412 Moses Ave	Westville	61883	Vermilion County	Westville CUSD 2	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 267-2185	184	10	17.6	55.4%	165 (89.7%)	3 (1.6%)	6 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.9%)	$13,468			$680			$12,788	12.2	24	1025	259
170993000824	1285	Hammond Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2819 W 21st Pl	Chicago	60623	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-4580	227	27	8.4	95.6%	1 (0.4%)	24 (10.6%)	199 (87.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)	$25,035			$4,198			$20,837	12.1	16	1204	81
172568002777	1286	Meredosia-Chambersburg Junior High	Public	5-8	830 Main St	Meredosia	62665	Morgan County	Meredosia-Chambersburg CUSD 11	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 584-1744	53	5	10.3	83.0%	49 (92.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.9%)	$19,177			$1,225			$17,951	12.1	8.3	1364	78
173708004431	1287	Jefferson Middle School	Public	6-8	3001 S Allis St	Springfield	62703	Sangamon County	Springfield School District 186	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 585-5810	495	39	12.5	79.6%	131 (26.5%)	280 (56.6%)	20 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (12.7%)	$24,931			$4,431			$20,500	12.1	11.1	1320	33
170993001011	1288	Piccolo Elementary Specialty School	Public	PK, KG-8	1040 N Keeler Ave	Chicago	60651	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-4425	635	51	12.5	92.0%	2 (0.3%)	199 (31.3%)	430 (67.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	$18,001			$3,299			$14,702	12.1	11.6	1310	22
170993001171	1289	Young Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1434 N Parkside Ave	Chicago	60651	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-6200	401	30	13.3	96.3%	2 (0.5%)	296 (73.8%)	97 (24.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$20,217			$3,764			$16,452	12.1	12.1	1302	13
171185001406	1290	American Dreamer STEM Academy	Public	K-8	2115 S Taylor Rd	Decatur	62521	Macon County	Decatur School District 61	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 362-3380	364	26	14	77.2%	63 (17.3%)	255 (70.1%)	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (11.3%)	$19,032			$3,682			$15,349	12.1	11.5	1312	22

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.