Summary:
ZIP code 60901 has two middle schools: Kankakee Junior High School, serving grades 7–8 and enrolling 501 students, and Limestone Middle School, serving grades 5–8 and enrolling 468. The latest test results are from 2025–2026. The clearest finding is a sharp contrast: Limestone’s all-grades results are above state averages, while Kankakee Junior High’s are well below them.
Limestone Middle School stands out at the top: its 2025–2026 proficiency was 65% in ELA and 48% in math, each 8 percentage points above the state. Its eighth-grade science result was 60%, compared with 52% statewide. Kankakee Junior High School was at the bottom, with 30% proficient in ELA and 16% in math—27 and 24 points below the state, respectively. The school-to-school gaps were 35 points in ELA, 32 in math, and 32 in eighth-grade science. The same pattern appears in grades both schools serve: Limestone led by 27–30 points in ELA and 34–40 points in math in grades 7 and 8.
Recent changes show that rising scores did not necessarily mean catching up. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, ELA rose 1 point at each school, but the state rose 3 points; math fell by less than a point at both schools while the state rose 1 point. Eighth-grade science increased by 2 points at Kankakee Junior High and stayed level at Limestone, while the state rose 7 points. SchoolDigger ranked Limestone at the 68th statewide percentile with 3 stars, versus Kankakee Junior High at the 5th percentile with 0 stars; both had declined from 2023–2024. Other differences parents may weigh include student-teacher ratios of 12.8 at Limestone and 17.4 at Kankakee Junior High, and 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible figures of 34% and 91%, respectively. In 2025–2026, chronic absenteeism was 14% at Limestone and 35% at Kankakee Junior High.
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