Best Public Schools in Manhattan, IL

Manhattan, Illinois, has four schools serving prekindergarten through eighth grade, with 2,011 students across Wilson Creek Elementary School, Anna McDonald Elementary School, Manhattan Intermediate School and Manhattan Junior High School. In 2025–2026, the three schools with reported results averaged 75% in ELA, compared with 56% statewide, and 57% in math, compared with 40% statewide. The most important finding is that all three schools with results were above state averages in both subjects.

The top school changes by subject: Manhattan Junior High led ELA at 81%, while Anna McDonald had the lowest result at 66%, a 15-point gap. Anna McDonald led math at 63%, while Manhattan Intermediate was lowest at 53%, a 9-point gap. Science results were also above state levels: Manhattan Intermediate’s fifth-grade result was 70%, or 22 points above the state, and Manhattan Junior High’s eighth-grade result was 64%, or 12 points above the state. Wilson Creek has no supplied test scores, and the science results are for different grades, so they are not direct school-to-school comparisons.

Recent scores show mixed movement: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, Manhattan Junior High’s ELA rose 4 points and math rose 1; Anna McDonald’s ELA rose 2 points while math fell 2. SchoolDigger rankings also moved in different directions: Manhattan Junior High went from the 87th to the 83rd percentile, while Anna McDonald rose from the 77th to the 86th percentile; these are ranking changes, not test-score changes. Other measures add context: in 2024–2025, student-teacher ratios were 13.9 at Manhattan Junior High and 16.0 at Anna McDonald, while free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 17% and 18%, respectively. Manhattan Junior High also had the group’s highest 2025–2026 chronic absenteeism rate, 18%, despite leading in ELA.