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)
171920002207	331	Hillsboro Junior High School	Public	6-8	909 Rountree St	Hillsboro	62049	Montgomery County	Hillsboro CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 532-3742	327	27	12	46.8%	308 (94.2%)	1 (0.3%)	14 (4.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	$14,886			$2,316			$12,569	71.3	59.8	443	112
171884002171	332	Limestone Middle School	Public	5-8	963 N 5000W Rd	Kankakee	60901	Kankakee County	Herscher CUSD 2	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 933-2243	465	33	13.9	32.0%	424 (91.2%)	2 (0.4%)	17 (3.7%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (4.1%)	$16,468			$519			$15,949	71	68.2	352	20
170993005303	333	Casals Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3501 W Potomac Ave	Chicago	60651	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-4444	370	30	12.3	85.4%	9 (2.4%)	111 (30.0%)	245 (66.2%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	$19,628			$3,364			$16,264	71	53.7	535	202
171281004614	334	Durand Junior High School	Public	7-8	200 W South St	Durand	61024	Winnebago County	Durand CUSD 322	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 248-2171	61	8	7.9	42.6%	56 (91.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.3%)	$21,882			$4,930			$16,952	70.9	51.5	576	242
172919005184	335	Oak Lawn-Hometown Middle School	Public	6-8	5345 W 99th St	Oak Lawn	60453	Cook County	Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(708) 499-6400	1,087	72	15.1	53.4%	423 (38.9%)	100 (9.2%)	515 (47.4%)	23 (2.1%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (2.2%)	$15,131			$1,013			$14,118	70.9	55.5	509	174
173020003121	336	Orion Middle School	Public	6-8	800 12th Ave	Orion	61273	Henry County	Orion CUSD 223	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(309) 526-3392	232	17	13.5	21.6%	224 (96.6%)	4 (1.7%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$12,110			$39			$12,072	70.8	80.5	219	117
170921000529	337	Kelvin Grove Junior High School	Public	4-8	808 Adams St	Lockport	60441	Will County	Lockport School District 91	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 838-0737	271	26	10.3	26.9%	203 (74.9%)	9 (3.3%)	50 (18.5%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.6%)	$17,040			$593			$16,447	70.5	61.4	427	90
172827005319	338	Millbrook Junior High School	Public	5-8	8411 Fox River Dr	Newark	60541	Kendall County	Newark CCSD 66	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(630) 553-5435	106	7	15.1	24.5%	84 (79.2%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (15.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	5 (4.7%)	$11,501			$512			$10,988	70.4	64.8	390	52
173249003379	339	Prairie Du Rocher Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	714 Middle St	Prairie Du Rocher	62277	Randolph County	Prairie Du Rocher CCSD 134	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 284-3530	119	9	13	47.9%	118 (99.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	$13,693			$1,890			$11,803	70.3	64	399	60
171446001786	340	Chute Middle School	Public	6-8	1400 Oakton St	Evanston	60202	Cook County	Evanston CCSD 65	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 859-8601	597	59	10.1	50.8%	163 (27.3%)	168 (28.1%)	190 (31.8%)	31 (5.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	43 (7.2%)	$29,515			$299			$29,216	70.3	59.6	447	107

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.