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
441	Aux Sable Middle School	Public	6-8	2001 Wildspring Pkwy	Joliet	60431	Kendall County	Plainfield School District 202	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 439-7092	844	56	15	34.5%	354 (41.9%)	159 (18.8%)	237 (28.1%)	38 (4.5%)	5 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (6.0%)	$13,774			$637			$13,137	63.7	56.6	504	63		173174005862
442	Jamieson Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	5650 N Mozart St	Chicago	60659	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-2395	825	59	13.9	67.6%	193 (23.4%)	61 (7.4%)	264 (32.0%)	277 (33.6%)	7 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (2.8%)	$17,354			$1,746			$15,608	63.5	53.7	547	105		170993000870
443	Hester Junior High School	Public	6-8	2836 Gustav St	Franklin Park	60131	Cook County	Franklin Park School District 84	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(847) 455-2150	426	34	12.6	62.9%	93 (21.8%)	4 (0.9%)	310 (72.8%)	17 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$17,407			$388			$17,019	63.4	58.3	473	30		171578001887
444	Cisne Middle School	Public	5-8	206 Mulberry St	Cisne	62823	Wayne County	North Wayne CUSD 200	No	(n/a)	No	No	(618) 673-2156	115	11	10.7	40.9%	113 (98.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	$13,976			$650			$13,326	63.3	56.6	506	62		171024001247
445	Alden-Hebron Middle School	Public	6-8	9604 Illinois St	Hebron	60034	McHenry County	Alden Hebron School District 19	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 648-2442	99	9	11.5	36.4%	70 (70.7%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (29.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,083			$902			$14,180	63.3	72.3	319	126		170330000016
446	Armstrong-Ellis Elementary School	Public	K-8	3571 Gifford Ave	Armstrong	61812	Vermilion County	Armstrong-Ellis Cons School District 61	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 569-2115	81	11	7.7	40.7%	72 (88.9%)	2 (2.5%)	1 (1.2%)	1 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (6.2%)	$18,481			$1,171			$17,311	63.3	58.2	476	30		170420000118
447	Heritage Middle School	Public	6-8	6850 31st St	Berwyn	60402	Cook County	Berwyn South School District 100	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 749-6110	447	52	8.6	73.6%	49 (11.0%)	29 (6.5%)	356 (79.6%)	6 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.6%)	$20,383			$1,928			$18,456	63.2	60	448	1		170609003422
448	LEARN Charter School 6 N Chicago Campus	Public, Charter	K-8	3131 Sheridan Rd	Great Lakes	60088	Lake County	North Chicago School District 187	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(847) 377-0600	503	38	13.2	60.8%	49 (9.7%)	116 (23.1%)	306 (60.8%)	11 (2.2%)	5 (1.0%)	2 (0.4%)	14 (2.8%)	$16,146			$770			$15,377	63.2	65.1	396	52		170011006217
449	Scales Mound Junior High School	Public	6-8	210 Main St	Scales Mound	61075	Jo Daviess County	Scales Mound CUSD 211	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 845-2215	52	5	9.9	21.2%	48 (92.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.9%)	$23,549			$384			$23,165	63.1	59.7	452	3		173561004828
450	Glenside Middle School	Public	5-8	1560 Bloomingdale Rd	Glendale Heights	60139	DuPage County	Queen Bee School District 16	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(630) 260-6112	732	61	12	54.1%	180 (24.6%)	47 (6.4%)	318 (43.4%)	170 (23.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (2.3%)	$22,204			$1,135			$21,068	63.1	58.7	469	19		173297003415

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for IL student subgroups:

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.