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)
171152001372	981	Cypress Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4580 Mount Pisgah Rd	Cypress	62923	Johnson County	Cypress School District 64	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 657-2525	109	11	9.9	60.6%	98 (89.9%)	2 (1.8%)	2 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (6.4%)	$13,774			$1,177			$12,598	26			(n/a)
170993001003	982	Ogden Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	24 W Walton St	Chicago	60610	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(773) 534-8110	907	4	226.7	52.6%	194 (21.4%)	396 (43.7%)	178 (19.6%)	71 (7.8%)	5 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (6.9%)	$17,315			$2,564			$14,751	26			(n/a)
170993001068	983	Sawyer Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	5248 S Sawyer Ave	Chicago	60632	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-0440	933	61	15.4	96.6%	15 (1.6%)	2 (0.2%)	903 (96.8%)	2 (0.2%)	7 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.4%)	$17,210			$3,264			$13,946	26	25	1009	26
172058002334	984	Hufford Junior High School	Public	6-8	1125 N Larkin Ave	Joliet	60435	Will County	Joliet PSD 86	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 725-3540	1,095	79	13.8	97.4%	141 (12.9%)	220 (20.1%)	681 (62.2%)	4 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (4.4%)	$18,345			$1,921			$16,424	25.9	24.4	1015	31
172640002827	985	Woodrow Wilson Middle School	Public	6-8	1301 48th St	Moline	61265	Rock Island County	Moline-Coal Valley CUSD 40	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 743-1623	866	52	16.5	60.0%	404 (46.7%)	145 (16.7%)	192 (22.2%)	45 (5.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	76 (8.8%)	$13,898			$817			$13,080	25.8	33.5	869	116
170993004962	986	Albany Park Multicultural Elementary	Public	7-8	4929 N Sawyer Ave	Chicago	60625	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-5108	227	16	14.1	94.7%	9 (4.0%)	6 (2.6%)	191 (84.1%)	12 (5.3%)	5 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.8%)	$20,283			$3,226			$17,058	25.8	23.2	1045	59
170993001168	987	Aldridge Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	630 E 131st St	Chicago	60827	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-5614	250	17	14.7	94.4%	0 (0.0%)	224 (89.6%)	26 (10.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,622			$3,963			$17,658	25.7	20.6	1102	115
170993000796	988	Owens Community Academy Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	12302 S State St	Chicago	60628	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-5475	338	26	13.2	95.0%	3 (0.9%)	318 (94.1%)	16 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$23,597			$4,593			$19,003	25.6	22.1	1068	80
170993001141	989	Wacker Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	9746 S Morgan St	Chicago	60643	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-2821	220	17	12.9	81.4%	0 (0.0%)	212 (96.4%)	5 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.4%)	$24,250			$3,761			$20,489	25.6	27.6	952	37
171780002076	990	Viking School	Public	6-8	4460 Old Grand Ave	Gurnee	60031	Lake County	Gurnee School District 56	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(847) 336-2108	515	47	11	57.7%	101 (19.6%)	121 (23.5%)	244 (47.4%)	25 (4.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (4.5%)	$18,222			$563			$17,659	25.6	26.4	979	11

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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

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.