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
1171	Acero Charter - Sandra Cisneros Elementary	Public, Charter	K-8	2744 W Pershing Rd	Chicago	60632	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(773) 376-8830	326	27	12.3	90.2%	5 (1.5%)	2 (0.6%)	319 (97.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$26,377			$1,178			$25,199	17	22.5	1051	120		170993006436
1172	Robertson Charter School	Public, Charter	PK, KG-8	2240 E Geddes Ave	Decatur	62526	Macon County	Decatur School District 61	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 428-7072	327	11	29.7	63.9%	4 (1.2%)	292 (89.3%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (8.0%)	$20,000			$1,381			$18,619	17	21	1080	92		171185004424
1173	Southwood Middle School	Public	6-8	18635 Lee St	Country Club Hills	60478	Cook County	Country Club Hills School District 160	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(708) 957-6230	283	18	15.7	70.3%	3 (1.1%)	239 (84.5%)	21 (7.4%)	4 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (5.7%)	$28,436			$3,782			$24,653	17	17.6	1163	10		171101001332
1174	South Pekin Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	206 Main St	South Pekin	61564	Tazewell County	South Pekin School District 137	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(309) 348-3695	180	14	12.8	53.9%	166 (92.2%)	4 (2.2%)	4 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.3%)	$12,747			$2,059			$10,688	16.9	42.8	705	469		173678003784
1175	Mollison Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4415 S Dr Martin L King Jr Dr	Chicago	60653	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-1804	237	17	13.9	85.7%	0 (0.0%)	221 (93.2%)	11 (4.6%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)	$23,499			$4,165			$19,334	16.9	11.3	1305	130		170993000966
1176	Christopher Elementary School	Public	K-8	5042 S Artesian Ave	Chicago	60632	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-9375	315	38	8.4	95.9%	6 (1.9%)	50 (15.9%)	257 (81.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	$31,627			$4,137			$27,491	16.9	12.7	1272	96		170993004376
1177	Lowell Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3320 W Hirsch St	Chicago	60651	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-4300	311	33	9.5	88.7%	2 (0.6%)	75 (24.1%)	233 (74.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$27,387			$3,397			$23,990	16.8	18.9	1119	58		170993000930
1178	Beach Park Middle School	Public	6-8	40667 N Green Bay Rd	Beach Park	60099	Lake County	Beach Park CCSD 3	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(847) 596-5860	715	49	14.5	56.8%	68 (9.5%)	142 (19.9%)	451 (63.1%)	11 (1.5%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (5.3%)	$19,757			$783			$18,974	16.8	23.8	1027	151		170001000213
1179	Morton Elementary Career Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	431 N Troy St	Chicago	60612	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-6791	268	31	8.6	75.7%	35 (13.1%)	159 (59.3%)	68 (25.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.9%)	$25,095			$3,384			$21,710	16.7	20.8	1083	96		170993004956
1180	Washington Junior High	Public	7-8	13900 S School St	Riverdale	60827	Cook County	Dolton School District 148	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 201-2078	118	10	11.4	100.0%	1 (0.8%)	114 (96.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.7%)	$24,964			$2,572			$22,392	16.7	16.4	1189	9		171245005040

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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:

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

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.