Best Elementary Schools in Illinois

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Find the best Illinois elementary 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 2056)	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
1521	Montessori Academy for Peace	Public	PK, KG-8	4735 E Cantrell St	Decatur	62521	Macon County	Decatur School District 61	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 362-3390	586	40	14.6	52.9%	271 (46.2%)	186 (31.7%)	8 (1.4%)	4 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	116 (19.8%)	$18,865			$2,231			$16,634	26.6	25.1	1541	20		171185001398
1522	T E Culbertson Elementary School	Public	K-5	1521 E Washington St	Joliet	60433	Will County	Joliet PSD 86	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 723-0035	377	16	24.3	92.3%	21 (5.6%)	51 (13.5%)	285 (75.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.0%)	$23,002			$1,582			$21,420	26.6	30	1402	120		172058002344
1523	Clissold Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2350 W 110th Pl	Chicago	60643	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	No	(773) 535-2560	508	40	12.7	33.7%	81 (15.9%)	360 (70.9%)	50 (9.8%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.4%)	$21,646			$1,842			$19,804	26.5	28	1463	60		170993000665
1524	South Fork Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	550 Prairie Street	Kincaid	62540	Christian County	South Fork School District 14	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 237-4331	150	10	14.9	65.3%	132 (88.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (10.0%)	$14,643			$2,371			$12,272	26.5	16.9	1775	251		173664005070
1525	Currier Elementary School	Public	K-5	800 Garys Mill Rd	West Chicago	60185	DuPage County	West Chicago Education Service District 33	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(630) 293-6600	359	30	11.9	72.4%	24 (6.7%)	11 (3.1%)	312 (86.9%)	11 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$25,876			$686			$25,190	26.5	25.2	1538	13		174155000775
1526	Milford Grade School West Campus	Public	PK, KG-8	100 S Chicago St	Milford	60953	Iroquois County	Milford Area PSD 124	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 889-4174	354	29	12.2	60.2%	300 (84.7%)	2 (0.6%)	30 (8.5%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (5.6%)	$17,250			$882			$16,368	26.5	35.3	1261	265		170141602789
1527	Catalyst Charter - Maria Elementary School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	6727 S California Ave	Chicago	60629	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 993-1770	1,107	78	14.1	96.5%	17 (1.5%)	476 (43.0%)	605 (54.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.6%)	$17,469			$259			$17,210	26.5	25.4	1532	5		170993006243
1528	Littlejohn Elementary School	Public	K-5	1121 School St	DeKalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 754-2258	362	24	14.9	70.7%	98 (27.1%)	51 (14.1%)	184 (50.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (7.7%)	$19,282			$1,674			$17,608	26.4	22.7	1600	72		171200001453
1529	Neil Armstrong Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	5030 Imperial Dr	Richton Park	60471	Cook County	Education Service District 159	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 481-7424	266	20	13.5	69.9%	2 (0.8%)	230 (86.5%)	21 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.5%)	$26,348			$1,473			$24,875	26.4	32.7	1327	202		173630003751
1530	Esmond Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1865 W Montvale Ave	Chicago	60643	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-2650	221	20	11	92.8%	0 (0.0%)	210 (95.0%)	9 (4.1%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	$26,012			$4,984			$21,028	26.4	19.6	1695	165		170993000753

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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

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:

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

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.