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 ISA and IAR test scores by the Illinois State Board of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 30, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 1368)	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 (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
961	Reilly Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3650 W School St	Chicago	60618	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-5250	539	45	11.9	67.7%	16 (3.0%)	11 (2.0%)	487 (90.4%)	11 (2.0%)	7 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.3%)	$20,149			$2,496			$17,654	28.4	31.9	867	94		170993001054
962	Ridgeview Junior High School	Public	6-8	202 E Wood St	Colfax	61728	McLean County	Ridgeview CUSD 19	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 723-2951	107	8	13.3	39.3%	90 (84.1%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (8.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (7.5%)	$14,264			$1,687			$12,577	28.2	25.4	997	35		170010905367
963	Lake Crest Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	310 Teeter St	Oakland	61943	Coles County	Oakland CUSD 5	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 346-2166	185	19	9.7	47.0%	183 (98.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,160			$1,175			$11,985	28.2	31.3	880	83		172934003072
964	Noble St Charter-Comer College Prep	Public, Charter	6-12	7131 S South Chicago Ave	Chicago	60619	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(773) 729-3969	1,007	72	13.9	86.1%	0 (0.0%)	982 (97.5%)	20 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	$23,226			$2,067			$21,159	28	35.1	815	149		170993006523
965	Montessori Academy for Peace	Public	PK, KG-8	4735 E Cantrell St	Decatur	62521	Macon County	Decatur School District 61	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 362-3390	586	40	14.6	52.9%	271 (46.2%)	186 (31.7%)	8 (1.4%)	4 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	116 (19.8%)	$18,865			$2,231			$16,634	28	17.8	1161	196		171185001398
966	Dongola Junior High School	Public	6-8	1000 High St	Dongola	62926	Union County	Dongola Unified School District 66	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 827-3524	51	3	17	100.0%	46 (90.2%)	1 (2.0%)	1 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (5.9%)	$20,154			$1,540			$18,614	27.8	23.3	1034	68		171248004610
967	Alton Middle School	Public	6-8	2200 College Ave	Alton	62002	Madison County	Alton CUSD 11	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 474-2200	1,220	87	14	51.1%	628 (51.5%)	354 (29.0%)	44 (3.6%)	10 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	182 (14.9%)	$15,693			$846			$14,847	27.8	24.7	1007	40		170360005841
968	Kershaw Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	6450 S Lowe Ave	Chicago	60621	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-3050	226	25	9	88.9%	0 (0.0%)	217 (96.0%)	8 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$30,001			$3,946			$26,055	27.7	27.3	956	12		170993000883
969	Shiloh Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	21751 N 575th St	Hume	61932	Edgar County	Shiloh CUSD 1	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 531-1850	247	23	10.6	52.2%	235 (95.1%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.0%)	$17,313			$1,069			$16,243	27.7	18.8	1123	154		170012200705
970	Rhodes Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	8931 Fullerton Ave	River Grove	60171	Cook County	Rhodes School District 84-5	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 453-6813	499	67	7.4	68.5%	106 (21.2%)	26 (5.2%)	352 (70.5%)	10 (2.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	$26,930			$1,291			$25,639	27.7	26.6	967	3		173339003457

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on IAR English Language Arts, IAR Mathematics, ISA Science test scores released by the Illinois State Board of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 30, 2025, 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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.