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
1331	Sterling Middle School	Public	5-8	2315 N Sterling Ave	Peoria	61604	Peoria County	Peoria School District 150	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(309) 672-6557	374	25	14.7	88.5%	31 (8.3%)	276 (73.8%)	24 (6.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (11.2%)	$17,068			$2,723			$14,345	9	10.8	1321	10		173123005325
1332	Beethoven Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	25 W 47th St	Chicago	60609	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-1480	333	26	13	91.3%	4 (1.2%)	267 (80.2%)	60 (18.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$19,376			$3,045			$16,330	9	13.2	1261	71		170993000602
1333	Dennis Lab School	Public	K-8	300 Meadow Terrace Pl	Decatur	62521	Macon County	Decatur School District 61	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 362-3511	579	35	16.5	84.6%	164 (28.3%)	289 (49.9%)	43 (7.4%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (14.0%)	$16,353			$1,930			$14,423	9	13	1265	68		171185001399
1334	Depriest Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	139 S Parkside Ave	Chicago	60644	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-6800	419	38	11	76.4%	0 (0.0%)	366 (87.4%)	50 (11.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	$26,255			$3,804			$22,451	8.6	17.2	1170	164		170993001177
1335	McNair Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4820 W Walton St	Chicago	60651	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-8980	328	32	10.2	89.3%	5 (1.5%)	236 (72.0%)	83 (25.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.2%)	$29,395			$3,130			$26,265	8.5	9.8	1335			170993001191
1336	Brunson Math & Sci Specialty Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	932 N Central Ave	Chicago	60651	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-6025	452	35	13.1	94.0%	7 (1.5%)	320 (70.8%)	117 (25.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	$21,450			$3,852			$17,598	8.5	18.2	1146	190		170993000638
1337	Sandoval Junior High School	Public	6-8	859 W Missouri Ave	Sandoval	62882	Marion County	Sandoval CUSD 501	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 247-3361	84	5	16	78.6%	71 (84.5%)	3 (3.6%)	3 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.2%)	6 (7.1%)	$18,518			$5,664			$12,854	8.5	15.2	1225	112		173531003688
1338	Erie Elementary Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	1405 N Washtenaw Ave	Chicago	60622	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 486-7161	405	24	16.8	73.1%	8 (2.0%)	61 (15.1%)	328 (81.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.0%)	$5,124			$1,595			$3,529	8.5	12.9	1268	70		170993005797
1339	King Academy of Social Justice	Public	PK, KG-8	644 W 71st St	Chicago	60621	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-3875	213	23	9.4	87.8%	2 (0.9%)	180 (84.5%)	29 (13.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	$23,345			$4,215			$19,129	8.5	10.1	1332	7		170993000856
1340	Ward L Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	646 N Lawndale Ave	Chicago	60624	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-6440	279	25	11.1	91.8%	3 (1.1%)	184 (65.9%)	92 (33.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$27,081			$3,710			$23,370	8.5	10.5	1330	10		170993001212

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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

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.