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
1181	Schrum Memorial School	Public	6-8	485 165th St	Calumet City	60409	Cook County	Hoover-Schrum Memorial School District 157	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 862-4236	274	15	18.2	51.1%	1 (0.4%)	220 (80.3%)	45 (16.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.9%)	$24,091			$3,303			$20,787	16.6	22.5	1050	131		171968000742
1182	Fort Dearborn Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	9025 S Throop St	Chicago	60620	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-2680	298	30	10.1	75.5%	0 (0.0%)	281 (94.3%)	15 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	$26,288			$4,209			$22,079	16.6	19	1116	66		170993000774
1183	S T E M Academy	Public	8	1650 Pulaski Rd	Calumet City	60409	Cook County	Dolton School District 149	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 868-7595	243	12	21.1	99.6%	2 (0.8%)	226 (93.0%)	12 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	$21,234			$3,550			$17,683	16.6	30.7	889	294		171242006240
1184	Hearst Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4640 S Lamon Ave	Chicago	60638	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-2376	285	32	8.9	84.6%	8 (2.8%)	90 (31.6%)	185 (64.9%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$29,372			$3,182			$26,190	16.5	28.3	935	249		170993000836
1185	Polaris Elementary Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	620 N Sawyer Ave	Chicago	60624	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-0820	343	15	22.8	71.1%	4 (1.2%)	304 (88.6%)	35 (10.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$22,726			$873			$21,853	16.5	12.9	1267	82		170993005919
1186	Beardstown Junior/Senior High School	Public	5-12	500 E 15th St	Beardstown	62618	Cass County	Beardstown CUSD 15	No	(n/a)	No	No	(217) 323-3665	820	53	15.5	77.3%	226 (27.6%)	96 (11.7%)	452 (55.1%)	9 (1.1%)	4 (0.5%)	4 (0.5%)	29 (3.5%)	$12,716			$834			$11,882	16.4	13.5	1257	71		170531000216
1187	Eberhart Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3400 W 65th Pl	Chicago	60629	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-9190	1,011	67	15	94.3%	14 (1.4%)	25 (2.5%)	968 (95.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	$17,013			$2,675			$14,337	16.3	15.4	1220	33		170993000739
1188	Powell Elementary Paideia Community Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	7511 S South Shore Dr	Chicago	60649	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-6650	542	45	12.1	88.6%	3 (0.6%)	479 (88.4%)	57 (10.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$19,460			$2,842			$16,618	16.3	10.6	1326	138		170993001213
1189	Bright Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	10740 S Calhoun Ave	Chicago	60617	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-6215	236	19	12.7	72.0%	10 (4.2%)	146 (61.9%)	80 (33.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$27,980			$3,655			$24,325	16.3	12.7	1270	81		170993000619
1190	Madison Junior High School	Public	6-8	600 Farrish St	Madison	62060	Madison County	Madison CUSD 12	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 877-1712	124	10	12.4	97.6%	4 (3.2%)	112 (90.3%)	7 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,757			$2,427			$19,331	16.3	16.8	1180	10		172397006234

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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:

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

State-Administered Standardized Tests: 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.