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
1321	Stephen Decatur Middle School	Public	7-8	1 Educational Park	Decatur	62526	Macon County	Decatur School District 61	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 362-3251	413	23	17.9	85.7%	120 (29.1%)	219 (53.0%)	18 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (13.6%)	$26,682			$8,939			$17,743	9.6	8.7	1356	35		171185004100
1322	Stagg Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	7424 S Morgan St	Chicago	60621	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-3565	377	32	11.7	70.6%	2 (0.5%)	298 (79.0%)	68 (18.0%)	4 (1.1%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.8%)	$20,967			$2,571			$18,396	9.4	9.8	1334	12		170993001102
1323	Jefferson Middle School	Public	6-8	3001 S Allis St	Springfield	62703	Sangamon County	Springfield School District 186	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 585-5810	517	43	12	80.7%	133 (25.7%)	290 (56.1%)	20 (3.9%)	3 (0.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	69 (13.3%)	$21,634			$2,145			$19,489	9.4	12.1	1287	36		173708004431
1324	Edith M Smith Middle School	Public	6-8	930 New York St	Waukegan	60085	Lake County	Waukegan CUSD 60	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(224) 303-2760	493	44	11.2	72.2%	19 (3.9%)	53 (10.8%)	403 (81.7%)	3 (0.6%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	11 (2.2%)	$22,545			$1,300			$21,244	9.4	14.5	1237	87		174125004124
1325	Lozano Elementary Bilingual & International Center	Public	PK, KG-8	1501 N Greenview Ave	Chicago	60642	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-4750	256	27	9.6	67.6%	16 (6.3%)	53 (20.7%)	172 (67.2%)	2 (0.8%)	3 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.9%)	$30,157			$3,397			$26,760	9.3	9.3	1347	22		170993000901
1326	Dulles Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	6311 S Calumet Ave	Chicago	60637	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-0690	651	37	17.8	95.7%	1 (0.2%)	611 (93.9%)	39 (6.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,197			$2,378			$13,819	9.3	9.2	1350	24		170993000682
1327	Bradwell Community Arts & Sci Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	7736 S Burnham Ave	Chicago	60649	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-6600	513	32	16.2	86.9%	0 (0.0%)	372 (72.5%)	138 (26.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$16,124			$2,058			$14,066	9.3	12.5	1274	53		170993000614
1328	Nicholson Technical Academy Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	6006 S Peoria St	Chicago	60621	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-3285	487	32	15.1	92.4%	21 (4.3%)	367 (75.4%)	94 (19.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.0%)	$19,351			$3,524			$15,826	9.1	12.2	1282	46		170993000597
1329	Hefferan Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4409 W Wilcox St	Chicago	60624	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-6192	214	18	11.7	89.3%	3 (1.4%)	168 (78.5%)	39 (18.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	$25,695			$3,139			$22,556	9.1	12	1291	38		170993000840
1330	OToole Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	6550 S Seeley Ave	Chicago	60636	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-9040	309	23	13.7	93.9%	13 (4.2%)	172 (55.7%)	124 (40.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$20,160			$2,715			$17,445	9.1	21.3	1075	255		170993001013

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.