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)
174230004889	871	Whiteside Middle School	Public	5-8	111 Warrior Way	Belleville	62221	St. Clair County	Whiteside School District 115	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 239-0000	508	38	13.3	61.2%	129 (25.4%)	297 (58.5%)	22 (4.3%)	7 (1.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (10.2%)	$11,297			$2,902			$8,395	31.7	39.4	783	88
172502002721	872	O W Huth Middle School	Public	7-8	3718 213th Pl	Matteson	60443	Cook County	Matteson Education Service District 162	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 748-0470	393	33	12	73.5%	3 (0.8%)	348 (88.5%)	29 (7.4%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.8%)	$22,227			$1,978			$20,249	31.7	20.7	1100	228
174035004058	873	Jefferson Middle School	Public	6-8	255 W Vermont St	Villa Park	60181	DuPage County	School District 45 DuPage County	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(630) 516-7800	403	37	10.8	65.8%	101 (25.1%)	38 (9.4%)	240 (59.6%)	8 (2.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.7%)	$19,672			$1,333			$18,339	31.6	40.6	761	112
173195006536	874	Pleasant Valley Intermediate School	Public	4-8	3314 W Richwoods Blvd	Peoria	61604	Peoria County	Pleasant Valley School District 62	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 679-0634	189	20	9.4	98.9%	53 (28.0%)	110 (58.2%)	3 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (12.2%)	$22,586			$2,978			$19,609	31.5	41.6	744	130
170993000689	875	Dawes Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3810 W 81st Pl	Chicago	60652	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-2350	946	70	13.6	95.9%	6 (0.6%)	141 (14.9%)	793 (83.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.4%)	$17,875			$3,052			$14,823	31.4	36.5	828	47
170993005413	876	Ruiz Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2410 S Leavitt St	Chicago	60608	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-4825	437	36	12.1	87.2%	8 (1.8%)	10 (2.3%)	414 (94.7%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	$21,619			$3,214			$18,405	31.4	29.5	925	49
170396000083	877	Arcola High School	Public	7-12	351 W Washington St	Arcola	61910	Douglas County	Arcola CUSD 306	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 268-4962	291	27	10.7	55.3%	144 (49.5%)	6 (2.1%)	138 (47.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	$16,121			$499			$15,622	31.3	33.3	874	3
173237001286	878	Kellar School	Public	6-8	14123 S Lydia Ave	Robbins	60472	Cook County	Posen-Robbins Education Service District 143-5	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 388-7201	408	23	17.8	75.0%	8 (2.0%)	143 (35.0%)	249 (61.0%)	6 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$21,440			$3,912			$17,528	31.3	30.9	900	22
170993000959	879	McPherson Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4728 N Wolcott Ave	Chicago	60640	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-2625	735	60	12.2	50.1%	209 (28.4%)	59 (8.0%)	376 (51.2%)	43 (5.9%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (6.3%)	$22,053			$3,034			$19,019	31.3	27.9	949	70
172934003072	880	Lake Crest Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	310 Teeter St	Oakland	61943	Coles County	Oakland CUSD 5	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 346-2166	182	19	9.5	44.0%	177 (97.3%)	3 (1.6%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,299			$32			$13,267	31.3	14	1254	374

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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:

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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.