Hughes C Elem School, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Hughes C Elem School

Hughes C Elem School serves a small cohort of students in grades PreK through 8 on the south side of Chicago, in a neighborhood that is predominantly Black with a growing Hispanic population. The school's enrollment is modest and stable across its grade bands, with particular concentration in the earliest grades.

State assessment results from the most recent year show performance that falls well below state proficiency benchmarks across both mathematics and English language arts. In math, proficiency varies sharply by grade: third grade is at a modest level, while fourth and sixth grades are substantially lower; fifth grade performs better than those two but remains well below state norms; seventh grade is in the low range; eighth grade shows no students meeting proficiency. In English language arts, the pattern is similarly weak across tested grades, with seventh grade the relative bright spot and sixth and eighth grades showing zero proficiency. Science proficiency in fifth grade is at a modest level; eighth grade science shows no students proficient. The school's participation rates in state assessments are solid and generally above modest thresholds, suggesting the testing data reflects actual student performance rather than absence from tests.

These results place Hughes C significantly below the median across other schools in Cook County on an overall proficiency index, putting it in the bottom quartile among the county's tested elementary and middle schools. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school on whether particular grade transitions, staff changes, curriculum implementation, or student population shifts in recent years correspond to these performance dips, especially in grades where no students met state standards.

Enrollment counts show meaningful numbers in the earliest grades but taper as students progress, with the school's overall roster small enough that any grade-level challenge affects a handful of families directly. The student population is approximately four-fifths Black and one-sixth Hispanic, with very small numbers from other groups. The school does not report counts or rates for students receiving free or reduced-price lunch or for students in special education or English learner status, so parents cannot assess the school's socioeconomic composition or special-population support from the available data.

Hughes C is a regular public school operated by Chicago Public Schools District 299 and is not a charter, magnet, or specialized school. The housing near the school on the West Side is affordable by metro standards, with modest ownership and rental costs. Chicago itself is experiencing population growth after years of decline, and the city has approved rising numbers of housing units across multiple neighborhoods, though the bulk of recent completions have concentrated downtown and along the lakefront rather than on the south and west sides where Hughes C sits.

The district faces a significant transition: Chicago voters have begun electing the Board of Education directly, a shift from mayoral appointment, and the board has adopted a strategic plan emphasizing neighborhood schools over school choice. The district also launched a new universal curriculum, Skyline, and replaced numeric school ratings with new holistic dashboards. These changes mean that the ecosystem in which Hughes C operates is being reshaped, which could affect resource allocation and family enrollment patterns over the coming years. For families committed to a neighborhood school, these policy shifts may signal greater investment in the local option; for families seeking alternatives, the move away from choice may narrow options.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 38% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 47%

School 7% · District 29% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 24% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 69%

School 9% · District 23% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 724%

School 24% · District 27% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 23% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 323%

School 23% · District 36% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 39% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 43% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 45% · ▼ 45 pts below district

▼ 50 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 46% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 88%

School 8% · District 48% · ▼ 40 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Science

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 29% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 31% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

This schoolChicago Public Schools Dist 299, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.