Suffolk Education recently broke ground and began renovations and construction of a new $39.6 million facility to house the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School, a project the company hopes will create jobs for the local community.

The Suffolk team said it is renovating an existing, three-story mill building and warehouse in the Hyde Park section of Boston, and constructing a 20,000-square-foot addition.

The Boston Renaissance Charter Public School is the largest charter school in Boston, serving children from 10 city neighborhoods.

Suffolk Education is reaching out to the community to recruit local participants for the school’s construction. Suffolk held a town meeting on May 12 at Suffolk’s training facility to attract and employ minority workers and independent contractors on this project.

The team said it is also working closely with school officials to employ parents of students who are either interested in construction work or have construction experience.

"We went through a comprehensive process to select the contractor for this project and Suffolk Construction was our unanimous first choice," said Roger F. Harris, superintendent and CEO of the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School. "The leadership of Suffolk CEO John Fish and his team guarantees that the project will be of the highest possible quality and the community’s needs are met."

Suffolk Education’s project team is partnering with Boston-based Janey Co. on the construction of the school. Designed by HMFH Architects of Cambridge, the new facility is scheduled to open to students in September 2010.