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
591	Effingham Junior High School	Public	6-8	600 S Henrietta St	Effingham	62401	Effingham County	Effingham CUSD 40	No	(n/a)	No	No	(217) 540-1300	458	35	13	43.7%	387 (84.5%)	9 (2.0%)	43 (9.4%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.5%)	$16,292			$476			$15,815	52.3	47.7	619	28		171356000654
592	Spoon River Valley Junior High School	Public	6-8	35265 N IL Route 97	London Mills	61544	Fulton County	Spoon River Valley CUSD 4	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 778-2201	42	6	7.4	47.6%	37 (88.1%)	1 (2.4%)	2 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.8%)	$13,554			$61			$13,493	52.1	54.4	535	57		173696003808
593	Plank Junior High	Public	6-8	510 Secretariat Ln	Oswego	60543	Kendall County	Cusd 308	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(630) 551-9400	595	54	11.1	36.8%	258 (43.4%)	60 (10.1%)	211 (35.5%)	39 (6.6%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (4.0%)	$16,664			$562			$16,102	51.9	59.2	458	135		173027005820
594	Lee Elementary School	Public	K-8	6448 S Tripp Ave	Chicago	60629	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-2255	581	40	14.7	90.5%	2 (0.3%)	7 (1.2%)	571 (98.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$17,880			$2,511			$15,370	51.9	42	716	122		170993001214
595	Wood Dale Junior High School	Public	6-8	6N655 Wood Dale Rd	Wood Dale	60191	DuPage County	Wood Dale School District 7	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(630) 766-6210	277	25	10.9	56.7%	95 (34.3%)	6 (2.2%)	156 (56.3%)	11 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.2%)	$25,624			$236			$25,388	51.8	48.5	609	14		174302004318
596	AlWood Middle/High School	Public	6-12	301 E 5th Ave	Woodhull	61490	Henry County	AlWood CUSD 225	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 334-2102	184	20	9.3	33.7%	169 (91.8%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (6.5%)	$19,173			$631			$18,542	51.7	38.3	771	175		170366000058
597	Nashville Grade School	Public	PK, KG-8	750 E Gorman St	Nashville	62263	Washington County	Nashville CCSD 49	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 327-4304	622	42	14.8	39.1%	573 (92.1%)	2 (0.3%)	20 (3.2%)	7 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	19 (3.1%)	$12,514			$820			$11,694	51.7	47	637	40		172772002466
598	McHenry Middle School	Public	6-8	2120 W Lincoln Rd	McHenry	60051	McHenry County	McHenry CCSD 15	No	(n/a)	No	No	(779) 244-1600	695	59	11.7	40.6%	502 (72.2%)	5 (0.7%)	163 (23.5%)	6 (0.9%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (2.4%)	$20,137			$481			$19,656	51.7	53.9	541	57		172529002757
599	Marquardt Middle School	Public	6-8	1912 Glen Ellyn Rd	Glendale Heights	60139	DuPage County	Marquardt School District 15	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(630) 858-3850	754	73	10.3	59.9%	126 (16.7%)	92 (12.2%)	426 (56.5%)	90 (11.9%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	17 (2.3%)	$27,371			$1,077			$26,294	51.7	40.2	747	148		172478002688
600	Holden Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1104 W 31st St	Chicago	60608	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-7200	407	33	12.3	71.5%	83 (20.4%)	54 (13.3%)	212 (52.1%)	50 (12.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.0%)	$19,283			$2,137			$17,147	51.5	56.9	498	102		170993000858

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.