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
1351	Gale Elementary Community Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	1631 W Jonquil Ter	Chicago	60626	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-2100	345	30	11.5	82.6%	21 (6.1%)	201 (58.3%)	95 (27.5%)	16 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.5%)	$24,879			$3,235			$21,643	7.5	11.8	1297	54		170993000782
1352	Wirth/Parks Middle School	Public	6-8	1900 Mousette Ln	Cahokia	62206	St. Clair County	Cahokia CUSD 187	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 332-5901	571	40	14.3	81.6%	14 (2.5%)	504 (88.3%)	16 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (6.1%)	$22,775			$2,593			$20,182	7.3	9.2	1349	3		170804006232
1353	Curtis Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	32 E 115th St	Chicago	60628	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-5050	356	24	14.8	97.5%	2 (0.6%)	299 (84.0%)	55 (15.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$20,638			$3,067			$17,571	7.3	11.3	1307	46		170993000650
1354	Egyptian Junior High School	Public	6-8	20023 Diswood Rd	Tamms	62988	Alexander County	Egyptian CUSD 5	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 776-5251	69	5	13.5	100.0%	58 (84.1%)	3 (4.3%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (10.1%)	$15,586			$1,890			$13,696	7.2	15.8	1212	142		171359001655
1355	Washington Middle School	Public	6-8	2300 E Jackson St	Springfield	62703	Sangamon County	Springfield School District 186	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 525-3182	516	50	10.3	79.8%	162 (31.4%)	262 (50.8%)	15 (2.9%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	73 (14.1%)	$24,399			$2,138			$22,262	7.1	10.9	1318	37		173708003844
1356	Lawndale Elementary Community Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	3500 W Douglas Blvd	Chicago	60623	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-1635	191	18	10.4	80.6%	0 (0.0%)	165 (86.4%)	26 (13.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$27,642			$4,468			$23,175	7.1	11	1314	42		170993000907
1357	Meridian High School	Public	6-12	1401 Mounds Rd	Mounds	62964	Pulaski County	Meridian CUSD 101	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 342-6778	206	14	14.3	98.5%	61 (29.6%)	112 (54.4%)	4 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (13.6%)	$22,874			$2,087			$20,787	6.9	9.3	1348	9		172697002873
1358	Dett Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2131 W Monroe St	Chicago	60612	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-7160	326	30	10.8	82.5%	0 (0.0%)	284 (87.1%)	26 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	14 (4.3%)	$26,481			$3,375			$23,105	6.7	8.2	1357	1		170993000695
1359	Melody Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3937 W Wilcox St	Chicago	60624	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-6850	341	23	15.1	99.4%	16 (4.7%)	273 (80.1%)	52 (15.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$22,349			$4,500			$17,849	6.7	10.7	1324	35		170993000963
1360	Penn Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1616 S Avers Ave	Chicago	60623	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-1665	218	24	9.1	85.3%	0 (0.0%)	192 (88.1%)	25 (11.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$30,694			$4,349			$26,345	6.5	19.1	1114	246		170993001028

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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, 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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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.