``` ### Introduction

This research aims to explore the allocation of 2022-23 Annual Sustainability Project Grants data and demographic data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

My focus is on: 1. Comparing grant allocation by borough 2. Analyzing school demographics for patterns in funding 3. Visualizing key trends and where free lunches come from

Methods

Data Preparation and Visualization:

  • Geographic Context: Added the NYC borough map as a base layer, providing viewers with a clear geographic context of school locations.

  • Data Processing:

    • Filtered sustainability grant data to unify school names across datasets
    • Limited NCES dataset to NYC boroughs:
      • Bronx
      • Brooklyn
      • Manhattan
      • Queens
      • Staten Island
    • Extracted geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) for mapping
    • Color-coded schools by grant category:
      • Outdoor Learning
      • Green Teams
      • Other sustainability initiatives

Visualization 1: Geographic Distribution

Visualization 2: Free Lunch Program Participation

Summary and Results

This project analyzed the relationship between NYC schools with sustainability grants and their participation in free lunch programs during the 2022-2023 school year. Using data from the NYC Department of Education, I created visualizations to understand the geographic distribution of these schools and their lunch program participation patterns. One significant challenge was extracting and matching school names across different datasets, as the naming conventions weren’t consistent and required careful cleaning.

Results

Map 2: “Schools with Sustainability Grants & Free Lunch Program Participation” - Shows that all 117 schools with sustainability grants also participate in free lunch programs - Reveals three types of participation: * Most schools use Community Eligibility Option (CEO) * A few schools use Provision 2

Key Finding: - The 100% overlap between sustainability grants and free lunch program participation suggests a potential connection between environmental initiatives and schools serving communities with economic needs.

Visualization: Two visualizations were created - Map 1: Displays schools receiving sustainability grants by borough and category. - Chart 1: Shows the distribution of free lunch program participation across boroughs.