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)
170993001033	511	Peterson Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	5510 N Christiana Ave	Chicago	60625	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-5070	899	55	16.3	64.4%	248 (27.6%)	66 (7.3%)	328 (36.5%)	215 (23.9%)	6 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (4.0%)	$16,268			$2,495			$13,774	56.2	60.9	434	77
170744000382	512	Brownstown Junior High School	Public	7-8	421 S College Ave	Brownstown	62418	Fayette County	Brownstown CUSD 201	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 427-3839	61	5	11.8	59.0%	60 (98.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.6%)	$10,662			$1,205			$9,457	56.2	76.2	259	253
171827002116	513	Harrisburg Middle School	Public	6-8	312 Bulldog Blvd	Harrisburg	62946	Saline County	Harrisburg CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(618) 253-7637	348	30	11.7	69.8%	281 (80.7%)	13 (3.7%)	15 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (10.9%)	$14,072			$768			$13,304	56	61.4	428	85
172910003045	514	Oak Grove School	Public	PK, KG-8	6018 W Lancaster Rd	Bartonville	61607	Peoria County	Oak Grove School District 68 Bartonville	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 697-0621	280	25	11.2	47.1%	232 (82.9%)	15 (5.4%)	13 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (7.1%)	$14,637			$1,191			$13,446	55.9	54.3	525	11
171779001063	515	Griggsville-Perry Middle School	Public	5-8	201 E North St	Perry	62362	Pike County	Griggsville-Perry CUSD 4	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 236-9161	88	11	7.6	39.8%	86 (97.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.3%)	$20,889			$3,333			$17,556	55.8	47.5	639	124
173918003976	516	Tonica Grade School	Public	PK, KG-8	535 N 1981st Rd	Tonica	61370	LaSalle County	Tonica CCSD 79	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(815) 442-3420	123	13	9.4	48.0%	105 (85.4%)	2 (1.6%)	16 (13.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$20,701			$1,240			$19,460	55.7	67.4	360	156
174007004024	517	Brooks Middle School	Public	6-8	350 Blair Ln	Bolingbrook	60440	Will County	Valley View CUSD 365U	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(630) 759-6340	874	84	10.4	61.1%	129 (14.8%)	253 (28.9%)	373 (42.7%)	72 (8.2%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (5.1%)	$19,207			$1,303			$17,904	55.6	58.4	465	52
170993006462	518	CICS - Irving Park Campus	Public, Charter	K-8	3820 N Spaulding Ave	Chicago	60618	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(773) 433-5000	505	27	18.7	65.5%	56 (11.1%)	26 (5.1%)	386 (76.4%)	19 (3.8%)	3 (0.6%)	5 (1.0%)	10 (2.0%)	$20,800			$164			$20,636	55.5	52.5	560	42
173564003711	519	Lincoln Middle School	Public	6-8	9750 Soreng Ave	Schiller Park	60176	Cook County	Schiller Park School District 81	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(847) 671-1816	456	36	12.8	69.3%	183 (40.1%)	3 (0.7%)	230 (50.4%)	25 (5.5%)	7 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.8%)	$17,119			$1,004			$16,116	55.5	56.4	492	27
170456000135	520	Hamlin Upper Grade Center	Public	6-8	12150 S Hamlin Ave	Alsip	60803	Cook County	Atwood Heights School District 125	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 597-1550	193	12	16		69 (35.8%)	23 (11.9%)	100 (51.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	$14,015			$1,096			$12,919	55.3	47.1	648	128

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.