Coleman F. Brown Elementary

Coleman F. Brown Elementary is a cozy elementary-level community in Modesto, California, run under Sylvan Union Elementary. The school instructs 378 students in grades K through 5.

Within Sylvan Union Elementary, which oversees 13 schools and 7,974 students, Coleman F. Brown Elementary is one campus in the system.

Looking at the student body, Coleman F. Brown Elementary logs that the most-represented group is Hispanic (50%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. The remainder looks like 18% White, 13% Asian, 12% multiracial, 6% Black. That composition is broadly in line with Stanislaus County as a whole.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Coleman F. Brown Elementary has 18 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 21.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Coleman F. Brown Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. About 84% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Stanislaus County runs at roughly 71%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat above the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, On a poverty-adjusted basis, Coleman F. Brown Elementary sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 29.7%; actual is 14.0%, a gap of -15.7 points.

In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Stanislaus County) shows that the typical household earns roughly $81,468 per year, roughly 20% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. Across Stanislaus County's 190 public schools (combined enrollment of about 106,477 students), Coleman F. Brown Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Sylvan Elementary, roughly 0.5 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Coleman F. Brown Elementary. On composite proficiency, Coleman F. Brown Elementary comes 7th of 7 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 30.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a high-density area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 14%: 437 students in 2018 compared to 378 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 27% to 18% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 28.2:1 in 2018 to 21.6:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.