Bernard L. Hughes Elementary

Bernard L. Hughes Elementary is a medium-sized elementary-level community in Modesto, California, part of Empire Union Elementary. The school enrolls 455 students in grades K through 6.

Within Empire Union Elementary, which oversees 6 schools and 2,794 students, Bernard L. Hughes Elementary is one campus in the system.

Demographically, Bernard L. Hughes Elementary records that 64% of the student body identifies as Hispanic. Beyond that, the school logs 13% White, 10% Asian, 5% Pacific Islander, 5% Black. That is noticeably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 50%.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 26.8:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 82% of students at Bernard L. Hughes Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Stanislaus County (around 71%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Bernard L. Hughes Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 30.4%; this one delivers 27.9%.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Stanislaus County indicate median household earnings sit near $81,468, roughly 20% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Bernard L. Hughes Elementary is one of 190 public schools in Stanislaus County (combined enrollment of about 106,477 students).

Nearest neighbor: Peter Johansen High, around 0.6 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Bernard L. Hughes Elementary comes 6th of 9 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 35.7%.

Geographically, the school is in a downtown area.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 19%: 564 students in 2018 compared to 455 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 20% to 13% across the same window.

On this page, posts here usually surface around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.