Roxbury — The Henry Dearborn Middle School on Greenville Street started the school year with an updated look, thanks to work done by the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department and its Community Works Program. Community Works Program (CWP) crews visited the school throughout the months of July and August to sand, paint, and repair crumbling walls.

The CWP is a program for low-risk inmates at the Suffolk County House of Correction who have received vocational training in areas including landscaping and ground maintenance, painting and building maintenance, and carpentry. Under strict officer supervision, these inmates are taken into Suffolk County to use the skills they have learned to make improvements in public spaces. The goal of the program is to reduce recidivism by teaching inmates to become employable citizens upon release.

Teresa Soares-Pena, principal of the Dearborn Middle School, was happy to play host to the CWP crews over the summer. Those visiting the school since August have been so impressed with the quality of work that has been done, the Sheriff’s Department has been asked to send crews back to work on the gymnasium during an upcoming school vacation.

“The teachers and students are amazed at how clean and inviting the school looks,” Soares-Pena said. “Everyone notices the great job that's been done here.”

return to Press Release index

:: top of page ::