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
921	National Teachers Elementary Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	55 W Cermak Rd	Chicago	60616	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-9970	795	49	16.2	46.2%	77 (9.7%)	583 (73.3%)	55 (6.9%)	34 (4.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (5.7%)	$16,081			$2,268			$13,813	30.9	46.4	649	272		170993004722
922	Whistler Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	11533 S Ada St	Chicago	60643	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-5560	242	19	12.7	88.8%	0 (0.0%)	235 (97.1%)	4 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.2%)	$23,107			$2,918			$20,189	30.9	33.8	841	81		170993001155
923	Henry Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4250 N Saint Louis Ave	Chicago	60618	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-5060	445	40	11.1	89.7%	23 (5.2%)	14 (3.1%)	384 (86.3%)	15 (3.4%)	6 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	$20,131			$2,381			$17,750	30.8	34.1	832	91		170993000844
924	Porta High School	Public	7-12	17651 Bluejay Rd	Petersburg	62675	Menard County	Porta CUSD 202	No	(n/a)	No	No	(217) 632-3216	411	32	12.8	47.0%	381 (92.7%)	8 (1.9%)	4 (1.0%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.6%)	$16,151			$739			$15,412	30.8	23.9	1024	100		173141003313
925	Palestine Grade School	Public	PK, KG-8	205 S Washington St	Palestine	62451	Crawford County	Palestine CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 586-2711	274	21	12.9	55.1%	258 (94.2%)	1 (0.4%)	9 (3.3%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	1 (0.4%)	$14,573			$2,172			$12,401	30.7	15.9	1209	284		173048003169
926	Northlawn Junior High School	Public	5-8	202 E 1st St	Streator	61364	LaSalle County	Streator Education Service District 44	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 672-4558	614	39	15.6	71.7%	376 (61.2%)	28 (4.6%)	152 (24.8%)	3 (0.5%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (8.6%)	$15,224			$2,614			$12,610	30.6	20	1097	171		170011205381
927	Central Park Elementary School	Public	K-8	3621 151st St	Midlothian	60445	Cook County	Midlothian School District 143	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 385-0045	640	47	13.7	67.5%	110 (17.2%)	160 (25.0%)	330 (51.6%)	2 (0.3%)	15 (2.3%)	2 (0.3%)	21 (3.3%)	$17,381			$2,641			$14,740	30.5	22.7	1046	119		172592002785
928	Frazier Perspectives Magnet Elementary School	Public	K-8	4027 W Grenshaw St	Chicago	60624	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-6880	129	21	6.2	88.4%	1 (0.8%)	117 (90.7%)	11 (8.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$36,195			$4,568			$31,626	30.4	27.4	954	26		170993005930
929	Prieto Math-Science Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2231 N Central Ave	Chicago	60639	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-0210	733	59	12.4	88.1%	1 (0.1%)	30 (4.1%)	692 (94.4%)	2 (0.3%)	7 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$18,964			$3,089			$15,875	30.4	23.1	1036	107		170993006067
930	Legacy Elementary Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	3318 W Ogden Ave	Chicago	60623	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 542-1640	458	26	17.6	92.4%	3 (0.7%)	417 (91.0%)	32 (7.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.1%)	$22,085			$2,353			$19,732	30.3	28.3	934	4		170993005799

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for IL student subgroups:

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.