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
1131	Mulberry Grove Junior High School	Public	6-8	801 W Wall St	Mulberry Grove	62262	Bond County	Mulberry Grove CUSD 1	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 326-8812	59	7	8	55.9%	50 (84.7%)	2 (3.4%)	2 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (8.5%)	$13,526			$1,694			$11,832	19.3	37.2	789	342		172745004756
1132	Bret Harte Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1556 E 56th St	Chicago	60637	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-0870	339	27	12.6	75.2%	14 (4.1%)	263 (77.6%)	43 (12.7%)	6 (1.8%)	3 (0.9%)	1 (0.3%)	9 (2.7%)	$22,120			$3,010			$19,110	19.3	32	865	267		170993000826
1133	Acero Charter Network - PFC Torress	Public, Charter	K-8	4248 W 47th St	Chicago	60632	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(773) 579-3475	528	29	18.5	88.4%	3 (0.6%)	7 (1.3%)	518 (98.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,241			$1,036			$15,205	19.3	35.4	810	323		170993006522
1134	James Farmer Junior Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	4214 S Saint Lawrence Ave	Chicago	60653	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-1687	321	19	16.8	94.1%	0 (0.0%)	300 (93.5%)	14 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.6%)	$19,898			$2,407			$17,490	19.3	18.8	1122	12		170993000778
1135	Little Village Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2620 S Lawndale Ave	Chicago	60623	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-1880	575	55	10.5	91.3%	2 (0.3%)	7 (1.2%)	562 (97.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,763			$3,400			$18,363	19.2	17.9	1158	23		170993001608
1136	Acero Charter Sor Juana Ines de la	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	7416 N Ridge Blvd	Chicago	60645	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(312) 455-5440	432	45	9.6	89.8%	11 (2.5%)	220 (50.9%)	182 (42.1%)	7 (1.6%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.1%)	$19,048			$1,110			$17,938	19.1	13.8	1253	117		170993006508
1137	Hufford Junior High School	Public	6-8	1125 N Larkin Ave	Joliet	60435	Will County	Joliet PSD 86	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 725-3540	1,072	81	13.1	97.3%	124 (11.6%)	208 (19.4%)	694 (64.7%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (3.9%)	$18,530			$1,671			$16,859	19.1	25.9	984	153		172058002334
1138	Viking School	Public	6-8	4460 Old Grand Ave	Gurnee	60031	Lake County	Gurnee School District 56	No	(n/a)	No	No	(847) 336-2108	461	39	11.8	54.4%	88 (19.1%)	108 (23.4%)	216 (46.9%)	17 (3.7%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (6.5%)	$19,652			$740			$18,912	19.1	25.6	990	148		171780002076
1139	Washington Junior High & Academy Prgm	Public	6-8	402 Richards St	Joliet	60433	Will County	Joliet PSD 86	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 727-5271	724	51	14.1	98.5%	28 (3.9%)	144 (19.9%)	532 (73.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (2.8%)	$20,028			$1,528			$18,499	19	19.8	1100	39		172058002348
1140	Earle Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2040 W 62nd St	Chicago	60636	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-9130	286	26	11	98.3%	1 (0.3%)	194 (67.8%)	86 (30.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.7%)	$23,986			$4,342			$19,644	18.9	15.1	1227	87		170993000738

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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.