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
1191	Pleasant Hill Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	501 E Quincy St	Pleasant Hill	62366	Pike County	Pleasant Hill CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 734-2311	254	22	11.3	68.1%	239 (94.1%)	6 (2.4%)	6 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.2%)	$14,173			$1,718			$12,455	16.3	11.1	1313	122		173189003345
1192	Gillespie Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	9301 S State St	Chicago	60619	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-5065	288	25	11.7	79.9%	0 (0.0%)	272 (94.4%)	14 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$25,470			$3,416			$22,055	16.3	11.7	1299	107		170993000816
1193	Madison Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	7433 S Dorchester Ave	Chicago	60619	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-0551	224	20	11.2	97.3%	4 (1.8%)	189 (84.4%)	28 (12.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	$26,063			$4,246			$21,817	16.2	9.7	1339	146		170993000935
1194	Stowe Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3444 W Wabansia Ave	Chicago	60647	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-4175	558	49	11.3	87.3%	15 (2.7%)	46 (8.2%)	489 (87.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.1%)	$19,688			$3,379			$16,309	16.2	14.8	1231	37		170993001109
1195	Drake Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2710 S Dearborn St	Chicago	60616	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-9129	302	25	12.3	97.7%	0 (0.0%)	285 (94.4%)	15 (5.0%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$27,200			$4,437			$22,763	16.1	18.1	1149	46		170993000728
1196	Peoria Heights Grade School	Public	PK, KG-8	500 E Glen Ave	Peoria Heights	61616	Peoria County	Peoria Heights CUSD 325	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(309) 686-8809	488	37	13.1	66.2%	263 (53.9%)	117 (24.0%)	44 (9.0%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (12.1%)	$16,609			$1,644			$14,965	16	18.7	1129	67		173127004474
1197	McCutcheon Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4865 N Sheridan Rd	Chicago	60640	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-2680	326	38	8.5	85.6%	27 (8.3%)	163 (50.0%)	82 (25.2%)	37 (11.3%)	9 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.5%)	$30,840			$4,676			$26,165	16	20.9	1082	115		170993000956
1198	Neil Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	8555 S Michigan Ave	Chicago	60619	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-3000	258	27	9.5	88.0%	1 (0.4%)	240 (93.0%)	9 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.1%)	$35,060			$3,893			$31,167	16	22	1060	138		170993000987
1199	Cather Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2908 W Washington Blvd	Chicago	60612	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-6780	321	32	10	97.2%	3 (0.9%)	290 (90.3%)	26 (8.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	$26,766			$3,124			$23,642	16	16	1199			170993000656
1200	Sandridge Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2950 Glenwood Dyer Rd	Lynwood	60411	Cook County	Sandridge School District 172	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 895-8339	423	25	16.9	6.6%	27 (6.4%)	302 (71.4%)	68 (16.1%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (5.4%)	$17,059			$1,541			$15,517	15.9	24.2	1017	183		173534003690

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.