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
1081	Freeport Middle School	Public	7-8	701 W Empire St	Freeport	61032	Stephenson County	Freeport School District 145	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 232-0500	515	37	14.1	58.8%	213 (41.4%)	123 (23.9%)	98 (19.0%)	6 (1.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	74 (14.4%)	$19,535			$2,625			$16,909	21.7	19.7	1103	22		171590001903
1082	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	21.7	20.3	1092	10		170993000665
1083	J W Eater Junior High School	Public	6-8	400 E Wabash Ave	Rantoul	61866	Champaign County	Rantoul City School District 137	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 893-5401	477	46	10.3	87.2%	119 (24.9%)	132 (27.7%)	166 (34.8%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (11.7%)	$21,036			$3,344			$17,692	21.6	18.5	1135	52		173321003441
1084	Acero Charter Roberto Clemente Elementary	Public, Charter	K-8	2050 N Natchez Ave	Chicago	60707	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(312) 455-5425	461	26	18	81.6%	5 (1.1%)	43 (9.3%)	411 (89.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,878			$987			$14,891	21.5	21	1078	6		170993006524
1085	DeSoto Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	311 Hurst Rd	De Soto	62924	Jackson County	DeSoto Cons School District 86	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 867-2317	198	19	10.4	67.2%	157 (79.3%)	10 (5.1%)	7 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (12.1%)	$16,669			$1,498			$15,171	21.5	26.3	974	111		171215001472
1086	Suder Montessori Elementary Magnet School	Public	PK, KG-8	2022 W Washington Blvd	Chicago	60612	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-7685	423	29	14.4	43.5%	86 (20.3%)	207 (48.9%)	74 (17.5%)	12 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	40 (9.5%)	$21,376			$2,722			$18,654	21.4	19.1	1113	27		170993005801
1087	Centralia Junior High School	Public	4-8	900 S Pine St	Centralia	62801	Marion County	Centralia School District 135	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 532-1907	559	48	11.5	99.1%	329 (58.9%)	105 (18.8%)	40 (7.2%)	3 (0.5%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	79 (14.1%)	$18,462			$1,688			$16,774	21.4	28.3	936	151		170927000535
1088	Unity Junior High School	Public	7-8	2115 S 54th Ave	Cicero	60804	Cook County	Cicero School District 99	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 863-8268	1,919	125	15.3	66.6%	15 (0.8%)	32 (1.7%)	1,865 (97.2%)	3 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.2%)	$21,680			$1,953			$19,727	21.4	23.9	1025	63		171020005660
1089	Waverly Junior/Senior High School	Public	7-12	201 N Miller St	Waverly	62692	Morgan County	Waverly CUSD 6	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 435-2211	147	8	17.5	51.0%	132 (89.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	5 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (6.1%)	$16,180			$1,334			$14,846	21.3	30.9	886	203		174128004145
1090	Calmeca Academy Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3456 W 38th St	Chicago	60632	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-7000	605	43	14.2	82.6%	5 (0.8%)	4 (0.7%)	589 (97.4%)	5 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$19,736			$2,422			$17,314	21.3	18.4	1137	47		170993005691

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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

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.