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
1281	Perspectives Charter - Leadership Ac	Public, Charter	6-12	8522 S Lafayette Ave	Chicago	60620	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(773) 358-6100	838	0		94.0%	1 (0.1%)	826 (98.6%)	8 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$20,832			$1,419			$19,413	11.8	14.1	1250	31		170993006437
1282	Carpentersville Middle School	Public	6-8	100 Cleveland Ave	Carpentersville	60110	Kane County	Cusd 300	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(847) 426-1380	1,142	86	13.2	86.4%	59 (5.2%)	61 (5.3%)	999 (87.5%)	6 (0.5%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (1.1%)	$16,437			$879			$15,558	11.6	16	1200	82		170855004910
1283	Jesse C White Learning Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	16910 S Western Ave	Hazel Crest	60429	Cook County	Hazel Crest School District 152-5	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 825-2190	425	36	11.8	98.6%	1 (0.2%)	383 (90.1%)	27 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.4%)	$23,848			$5,557			$18,291	11.5	11.9	1296	13		171860002156
1284	Davis N Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3014 W 39th Pl	Chicago	60632	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-4540	540	38	14.3	87.6%	19 (3.5%)	15 (2.8%)	502 (93.0%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$19,674			$2,936			$16,738	11.4	12.3	1279	5		170993000687
1285	Wentworth Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1340 W 71st St	Chicago	60636	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-3394	433	37	11.7	97.5%	3 (0.7%)	325 (75.1%)	105 (24.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$23,894			$3,479			$20,415	11.4	11.3	1304	19		170993001150
1286	Nash Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4837 W Erie St	Chicago	60644	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-6125	255	28	9.1	91.0%	2 (0.8%)	159 (62.4%)	93 (36.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$29,337			$4,268			$25,068	11.4	13.2	1260	26		170993000985
1287	Montessori of Englewood Charter Elementary School	Public, Charter	PK, KG-8	6936 S Hermitage Ave	Chicago	60636	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-9255	349	7	49.8	99.1%	4 (1.1%)	269 (77.1%)	75 (21.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$21,772			$1,725			$20,047	11.3	15.9	1208	79		170993006221
1288	Harold B Dawson Middle School	Public	5-8	2708 W Rohmann Ave	West Peoria	61604	Peoria County	Peoria School District 150	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(309) 672-6506	331	21	15.7	92.1%	37 (11.2%)	221 (66.8%)	24 (7.3%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.9%)	1 (0.3%)	44 (13.3%)	$14,398			$1,883			$12,515	11.3	12.4	1277	11		173123005329
1289	Garden Hills Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2001 Garden Hills Dr	Champaign	61821	Champaign County	Champaign CUSD 4	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 351-3872	411	26	16.1	78.6%	28 (6.8%)	238 (57.9%)	111 (27.0%)	15 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (4.6%)	$14,949			$836			$14,114	11.2			(n/a)		170942000548
1290	Hendricks Elementary Community Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	4316 S Princeton Ave	Chicago	60609	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-1696	217	19	11.7	97.2%	3 (1.4%)	184 (84.8%)	27 (12.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	$29,272			$3,516			$25,757	11.1	20.4	1091	199		170993000817

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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:

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

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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.