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
381	Kaneland Harter Middle School	Public	6-8	1601 N Esker Dr	Sugar Grove	60554	Kane County	Kaneland CUSD 302	No	(n/a)	No	No	(630) 466-8400	822	69	11.9	18.5%	645 (78.5%)	18 (2.2%)	108 (13.1%)	9 (1.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	40 (4.9%)	$19,235			$203			$19,032	68.7	48.3	611	230		172448005035
382	Pana Junior High School	Public	6-8	203 W 8th St	Pana	62557	Christian County	Pana CUSD 8	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 562-6543	248	22	11.2	53.2%	231 (93.1%)	2 (0.8%)	5 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.6%)	$17,879			$2,516			$15,363	68.5	72.6	314	68		173063003184
383	Oak Lawn-Hometown Middle School	Public	6-8	5345 W 99th St	Oak Lawn	60453	Cook County	Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(708) 499-6400	1,090	74	14.7	48.3%	402 (36.9%)	105 (9.6%)	522 (47.9%)	29 (2.7%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (2.7%)	$15,654			$748			$14,906	68.5	70.9	335	48		172919005184
384	Ashton-Franklin Center High School	Public	7-12	611 Western Ave	Ashton	61006	Lee County	Ashton-Franklin Center CUSD 275	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 453-7461	216	17	12.7	51.9%	191 (88.4%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (10.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.4%)	$17,474			$710			$16,764	68.4	72.8	310	74		170438000127
385	Adams School	Public	PK, KG-8	15470 Lake of Egypt Rd	Creal Springs	62922	Williamson County	Marion CUSD 2	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 996-2181	283	25	11.3	42.4%	254 (89.8%)	7 (2.5%)	14 (4.9%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.1%)	$14,395			$1,968			$12,427	68.4	67.5	369	16		172460002662
386	Washington Dual Language Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	1111 Washington Blvd	Maywood	60153	Cook County	Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview 89	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 450-2065	346	22	15.8	59.2%	3 (0.9%)	74 (21.4%)	264 (76.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.4%)	$20,636			$2,276			$18,361	68.3	50.3	593	207		172511002747
387	Hamilton Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1830 Broadway St	Hamilton	62341	Hancock County	Hamilton CCSD 328	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(866) 332-3880	384	32	12	56.3%	338 (88.0%)	5 (1.3%)	6 (1.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (8.9%)	$13,344			$1,792			$11,551	68.3	65.2	395	8		171806002085
388	Geneseo Middle School	Public	6-8	333 E Ogden Ave	Geneseo	61254	Henry County	Geneseo CUSD 228	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 945-0599	573	42	13.6	26.2%	509 (88.8%)	5 (0.9%)	32 (5.6%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (4.0%)	$13,912			$166			$13,746	68.2	53.1	558	170		171635001949
389	Thorp O A Elementary Scholastic Academy	Public	K-8	6024 W Warwick Ave	Chicago	60634	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	No	(773) 534-3640	831	57	14.5	37.1%	242 (29.1%)	67 (8.1%)	453 (54.5%)	32 (3.9%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.4%)	32 (3.9%)	$18,608			$1,428			$17,180	68.1	70.2	342	47		170993001123
390	Glenwood Middle School	Public	7-8	595 Chatham Rd	Chatham	62629	Sangamon County	Ball Chatham CUSD 5	No	(n/a)	No	No	(217) 483-2481	735	43	17.1	22.7%	539 (73.3%)	37 (5.0%)	32 (4.4%)	45 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	82 (11.2%)	$12,465			$299			$12,166	68	63.5	410	20		170492000185

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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:

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

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.