Best Middle Schools in Illinois

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
491	Prairie Junior High School	Public	7-8	11910 S Kostner Ave	Alsip	60803	Cook County	Alsip-Hazlgrn-Oaklwn School District 126	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 371-3080	303	27	11.4	53.1%	97 (32.0%)	47 (15.5%)	143 (47.2%)	7 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.0%)	$23,234			$586			$22,648	59.8	47.3	629	138		170348000031
492	Sycamore Middle School	Public	6-8	150 Maplewood Dr	Sycamore	60178	DeKalb County	Sycamore CUSD 427	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(815) 899-8170	847	62	13.6	25.9%	654 (77.2%)	32 (3.8%)	111 (13.1%)	15 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (4.1%)	$14,156			$284			$13,872	59.8	59.3	456	36		173846003923
493	Genoa-Kingston Middle School	Public	6-8	941 W Main St	Genoa	60135	DeKalb County	Genoa Kingston CUSD 424	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 784-5222	355	30	11.7	39.2%	260 (73.2%)	4 (1.1%)	79 (22.3%)	6 (1.7%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.4%)	$15,043			$252			$14,791	59.6	56.8	500	7		171641001959
494	Parkside Middle School	Public	5-8	1800 Church St	Peru	61354	LaSalle County	Peru Education Service District 124	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 223-1111	372	29	12.8	54.6%	254 (68.3%)	14 (3.8%)	72 (19.4%)	5 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (7.3%)	$13,626			$794			$12,832	59.6	57.9	482	12		173138003309
495	Anna Junior High School	Public	5-8	301 S Green St	Anna	62906	Union County	Anna CCSD 37	No	(n/a)	No	No	(618) 833-6415	236	18	12.8	49.2%	211 (89.4%)	4 (1.7%)	19 (8.1%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$14,425			$967			$13,458	59.6	56.2	510	15		170375000064
496	Central Junior High School	Public	7-8	1801 Central School Rd	Belleville	62220	St. Clair County	Belleville School District 118	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 233-5377	308	24	12.6	64.0%	137 (44.5%)	124 (40.3%)	13 (4.2%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (10.7%)	$22,952			$1,408			$21,544	59.2	63	417	79		170561000232
497	Dupo Junior High School	Public	7-8	600 Louisa Ave	Dupo	62239	St. Clair County	Community Unit School District No 196	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 286-3214	124	13	9.4	72.6%	93 (75.0%)	14 (11.3%)	6 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (8.9%)	$18,898			$1,311			$17,587	59.2	47.9	616	119		171272001526
498	Emge Junior High School	Public	7-8	7401 Westchester Dr	Belleville	62223	St. Clair County	Harmony Emge School District 175	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 397-6557	146	11	12.9	56.8%	51 (34.9%)	67 (45.9%)	9 (6.2%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (11.0%)	$16,607			$1,434			$15,173	59.2	42.3	712	214		171422001765
499	Jay Stream Middle School	Public	6-8	283 El Paso Ln	Carol Stream	60188	DuPage County	Ccsd 93	No	(n/a)	No	No	(630) 588-5200	572	57	9.9	42.0%	227 (39.7%)	35 (6.1%)	171 (29.9%)	133 (23.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	$23,727			$194			$23,534	59.1	61.9	428	71		171047005307
500	Kenyon Woods Middle School	Public	7-8	1515 Raymond St	South Elgin	60177	Kane County	School District U-46	No	(n/a)	No	No	(847) 289-6685	873	62	14	37.8%	332 (38.0%)	30 (3.4%)	384 (44.0%)	88 (10.1%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	34 (3.9%)	$21,479			$1,175			$20,305	59	54.2	538	38		171371005612

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.