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)
171668000560	581	Gillespie Middle School	Public	6-8	412 Oregon St	Gillespie	62033	Macoupin County	Gillespie CUSD 7	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 839-2116	262	17	15.8	99.6%	255 (97.3%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.5%)	$12,410			$944			$11,466	51.4	52.9	553	28
170143406538	582	Dimmick Community Cons School District 175	Public	PK, KG-8	297 N 33rd Rd	La Salle	61301	LaSalle County	Dimmick Community Cons School District #175	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 223-2933	155	12	12.6		132 (85.2%)	2 (1.3%)	13 (8.4%)	2 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	5 (3.2%)	$17,801			$921			$16,880	51.4	67.7	356	226
170993000866	583	Hurley Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3849 W 69th Pl	Chicago	60629	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-2068	711	48	14.9	90.4%	5 (0.7%)	8 (1.1%)	691 (97.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,725			$2,804			$13,921	51.2	54.1	528	55
170942006339	584	International Prep Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	1605 W Kirby Ave	Champaign	61821	Champaign County	Champaign CUSD 4	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 351-3995	650	51	12.8	23.4%	95 (14.6%)	80 (12.3%)	440 (67.7%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (4.9%)	$16,356			$1,784			$14,572	51.1	58.6	461	123
172460002667	585	Marion Junior High School	Public	6-8	1609 W Main St	Marion	62959	Williamson County	Marion CUSD 2	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(618) 997-1317	704	51	13.9	54.1%	519 (73.7%)	64 (9.1%)	46 (6.5%)	5 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (9.7%)	$13,464			$1,871			$11,593	51.1	54.7	520	65
170993001145	586	Washington G Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3611 E 114th St	Chicago	60617	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-5010	617	40	15.4	78.4%	26 (4.2%)	25 (4.1%)	560 (90.8%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$17,131			$3,233			$13,899	51.1	46.8	653	67
170000305123	587	Blue Ridge Intermediate-Junior High School	Public	4-8	107 South McKinley Street	Mansfield	61854	Piatt County	Blue Ridge CUSD 18	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 489-5201	217	19	11.4	48.4%	204 (94.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.1%)	$18,487			$759			$17,728	51.1	47.3	643	56
170993001002	588	Morgan Park High School	Public	7-12	1744 W Pryor Ave	Chicago	60643	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-2550	1,245	77	16.2	76.5%	14 (1.1%)	1,178 (94.6%)	37 (3.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	13 (1.0%)	$18,340			$3,346			$14,994	51.1	36.9	818	230
171758002058	589	Grayville Junior Senior High School	Public	6-12	728 W North St	Grayville	62844	White County	Grayville CUSD 1	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 375-7114	140	13	11	52.9%	139 (99.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,126			$1,369			$13,758	50.9	26.1	987	398
173174001873	590	Timber Ridge Middle School	Public	6-8	2101 S Bronk Rd	Plainfield	60586	Will County	Plainfield School District 202	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 439-3410	848	57	14.8	40.0%	393 (46.3%)	93 (11.0%)	291 (34.3%)	32 (3.8%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	36 (4.2%)	$13,694			$1,389			$12,305	50.7	55.6	508	82

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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

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.