Best Middle Schools in Illinois

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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)
171185001398	1161	Montessori Academy for Peace	Public	PK, KG-8	601 N Church St	Decatur	62522	Macon County	Decatur School District 61	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 362-3390	639	39	16.3	42.6%	299 (46.8%)	203 (31.8%)	9 (1.4%)	5 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	121 (18.9%)	$18,581			$2,811			$15,770	17.8	15.6	1215	54
170576000253	1162	Roosevelt Middle School	Public	6-8	2500 Oak St	Bellwood	60104	Cook County	Bellwood School District 88	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 410-3900	626	43	14.5	99.5%	2 (0.3%)	283 (45.2%)	327 (52.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (1.9%)	$24,064			$2,178			$21,885	17.8	19.8	1116	46
171101001332	1163	Southwood Middle School	Public	6-8	18635 Lee St	Country Club Hills	60478	Cook County	Country Club Hills School District 160	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(708) 957-6230	323	25	12.9	76.5%	6 (1.9%)	282 (87.3%)	17 (5.3%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.6%)	$23,348			$3,033			$20,316	17.6	14.4	1246	83
170031905598	1164	West Central Middle School	Public	6-8	217 W South St	Stronghurst	61480	Henderson County	West Central CUSD 235	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 924-1681	180	13	13.4	67.2%	162 (90.0%)	2 (1.1%)	6 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.4%)	$13,620			$768			$12,852	17.6	23.1	1048	116
170993000811	1165	Gresham Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	8524 S Green St	Chicago	60620	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-3350	328	26	12.6	93.9%	0 (0.0%)	318 (97.0%)	10 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,621			$3,572			$18,049	17.5	13.3	1272	107
170010500245	1166	A-C Central Middle School	Public	5-8	601 W Buchanan St	Ashland	62612	Cass County	A-C Central CUSD 262	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 476-3312	91	8	11.7	47.3%	86 (94.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.3%)	$16,054			$273			$15,781	17.5	21.7	1078	88
170993000773	1167	Fiske Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	6020 S Langley Ave	Chicago	60637	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-0990	385	33	11.6	80.8%	1 (0.3%)	364 (94.5%)	10 (2.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.3%)	$21,355			$3,723			$17,633	17.4	10.8	1325	158
173054003173	1168	Northwestern Junior High School	Public	7-8	30889 Route 111	Palmyra	62674	Macoupin County	Northwestern CUSD 2	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 436-2011	52	4	12.8	40.4%	51 (98.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.9%)	$17,034			$4,288			$12,746	17.4	49	608	560
170993006509	1169	KIPP Chicago Chrtrs - Ascend Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1616 S Avers Ave	Chicago	60623	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(773) 521-4399	936	53	17.6	96.8%	1 (0.1%)	872 (93.2%)	58 (6.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.4%)	$20,082			$161			$19,921	17.4	17.7	1165	4
170993001177	1170	Depriest Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	139 S Parkside Ave	Chicago	60644	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-6800	474	37	12.8	92.2%	0 (0.0%)	424 (89.5%)	47 (9.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$21,936			$3,035			$18,901	17.2	14.2	1249	79

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.