Author: Jordan Delfiugo

  • Diamond Middle School students escape bus fire

    Jordan Delfiugo

    About 60 William Diamond Middle School students and staff evacuated a charter bus in Woodstock, NH Friday night after one student noticed something disturbing: the smell of smoke. Within minutes, the vehicle was engulfed in flames. 

    The students were headed to Jay Peak, Vermont, for the school’s annual ski trip. No students were hurt, but one adult staff member was treated for smoke inhalation. 

    New Hampshire State Police told WBZ that investigators have not pinpointed the cause of the fire, but they have ruled out criminal activity. Approximately 100 students and 10 chaperones rode multiple buses on the trip. 

    Jennifer Bermont watched her two children board separate buses that night. One arrived safely. The other rode the bus that caught fire.

    When her son called after being evacuated from the burning bus, Bermont said she was overwhelmed with “panic and disbelief.” 

    Bermont praised Diamond staff members for keeping families informed throughout the night. “The school did a great job,” she said. “We continue to receive emails offering support for our kids as they process this traumatic experience.” 

    Parent Ching-Ju Kuo agreed. “I truly appreciate all the teachers and chaperones for their quick response, which helped minimize the impact of the incident,” she said. “We received updates as soon as decisions were made about the next steps.” 

    After evacuating, the students walked with a police escort along Highway I-93 to a nearby McDonald’s. A replacement bus ferried students back to campus, where they were reunited with their families around midnight. 

    “The highway had been shut down at that point, so they were safe to walk down the road,” Diamond Principal Johnny Cole said. 

    After local firefighters contained the blaze, some staff members returned to the charred remains of the bus to recover what they could. The next morning, Cole said the school invited families to collect salvageable items from the bus and photograph property for potential insurance claims. 

    “Thankfully, [my son’s] ski equipment and luggage, which were stored underneath the bus, were all okay, albeit smelling of smoke,” Bermont said. “However, some of the other things that he had on board with him were left behind during the evacuation and were damaged by the fire.” 

    Cole said vehicle problems happen occasionally on school trips. Last year, one of seven buses broke down en route to Washington, D.C. Diamond staff members are trained on emergency protocols for situations like this, he said. 

    “We regularly have drills, we have a safety team that meets once a month to discuss instances like this, to debrief, and plan ahead,” Cole said. 

    However, he said this is the first time an incident like this has occurred on the annual winter trip, which Diamond has hosted since 2010. 

    “We take enough field trips that sometimes buses have malfunctions, but this was a very serious one,” he said. “Nothing like this has really happened before.” 

    A spokeswoman for Z&M Legacy, the motor coach company, offered few details. “The incident is currently under investigation and we do not have any additional information to share at this time,” said one of the company’s officers, Gabriela Pitts.

    Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records show five Z&M inspections over the past two years. Four resulted in no violations. A fifth flagged vehicle maintenance issues, including an exhaust system concern. 

    “We are certainly not experts in motorcoach repair, so we would not have been able to spot an issue like this prior,” Cole said. “We do rely a lot on the vendors that we work with to make sure their equipment is safe.” 

    Bermont said the incident hasn’t shaken her confidence in the safety of school outings. “I feel so badly that the kids didn’t make it to Jay Peak, she said. “The kids have a blast. I hope they have the opportunity to go next year.” 

    This story was written by a journalism student in BU’s Newsroom program, a partnership between the university, The Lexington Observer and other news organizations in the Boston area.

  • How Lexington’s Muslim residents mark Ramadan

    In the center of Depot Square, a metallic crescent moon cradles a dangling star, its silver embellishments gleaming. The Lexington Muslim Community purchased the statue ahead of last year’s Ramadan celebration, hoping it would spark curiosity about the Islamic faith long after the month ends. 

    A crescent moon statue purchased by the Lexington Muslim Community in February 2025 stands in front of the Lexington Historical Society in Depot Square. / Photo credit: Jordan DelFiugo.

    “We intentionally chose metal for the piece because it reflects both literally and figuratively, representing spiritual reflection and deeper self-awareness,” said Huda Ghabieh, a  member of the Lexington Muslim Community who helped organize the statue’s installation. “The crescent helps kindle conversations and understanding with neighbors. My hope is that it is always remembered that way, to strengthen our relationships and friendships, no matter the time.” 

    Ramadan follows the Islamic lunar calendar, and each month begins with the sighting of a new crescent moon. The crescent symbol carries special meaning for Muslims worldwide as well as those in the Lexington community. 

    Lexington resident Rabiha Sami, owner of Rabiha’s, a custom bakery, uses the crescent symbol as inspiration when creating Ramadan-themed baked goods.

    “It’s the moon that determines the start and the end of Ramadan, so you’ll see me making a lot of different crescents and celestial treats,” she said, adding that she likes to use cardamom and rose flavor profiles to bring more of her culture into her creations.

    During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, refraining from food and drink while focusing on generosity and gratitude. The month concludes with Eid al-Fitr, this year falling on March 19, a celebration marking the end of the fast.

    A native of Pakistan, Sami grew up with everyone around her observing Ramadan and celebrating the holiday “to the max,” she said. Prior to moving to Lexington in 2019, she also spent 20 years in New York, which she said was a “very different” experience because of the city’s large Muslim population. Census-based estimates reported by The Boston Globe suggest that approximately 1,400 Lexington residents, about 4% of the town’s population, are Muslim.

    In a smaller community like Lexington, Sami said it can be harder to find Ramadan-related foods or decorations.

    “Here, when we go to the store to pick something up, there are usually no special treats that celebrate Ramadan,” Sami said. “I really try my best to make it accessible to a lot of locals who would like to get Ramadan-themed stuff for their family and their friends.”

    Still, Sami said the Muslim community in Lexington “really comes together” during Ramadan. 

    Last year, the town held its first public Ramadan celebration in the town center, organized by the Lexington Muslim Community. This year, the group was unable to host a ceremony due to the heavy snowfall, Ghabieh said. However, next year they plan to have an indoor “Light Up the Crescent” event on the first night of Ramadan. 

    “Everyone in town will be welcomed,” Ghabieh said. “We hope this becomes a tradition that continues to bring the whole town together.” 

    In the meantime, community members have been having smaller get-togethers. 

    “A lot of people have potlucks — iftars — when we open our fast. I’ve also seen people be very generous, donating to families in need,” Sami said. “During Ramadan, we’re taught not just to be grateful for what we have, but also to share what we have.”

    Sami also prepares platters of both sweet and savory foods to share with neighbors, many of whom are not Muslim.

    “It’s just a way to share our culture and our celebrations,” she said.

    As a mother of two teenage boys, Sami emphasized the importance of bringing her children into the celebration.

    “I’ve done anything and everything to excite my kids from a young age — I get creative,” she said. “Similar to how a lot of people do advent calendars for Christmas, I do advent calendars around Ramadan. I just try to keep it really light and happy and talk about the meaning and the purpose behind it.”

    Ghabieh said Ramadan’s meaning is often misunderstood and overshadowed by the idea that the month is simply about fasting.

    “The deeper purpose is spiritual growth,” she said. “It is a joyful and meaningful time, centered on compassion, generosity and caring for others.”

    For Sohail Masood, co-founder of Omar’s World of Comics, those values extend into his family’s business.

    “That’s really what Ramadan means, sacrificing yourself and understanding that there are people who may not have enough food to eat,” Masood said. “Fasting helps you feel empathy for other people.” 

    The popular comic book shop, located in downtown Lexington, is named after his son, Omar, a young man with Down syndrome who graduated from the LABBB Special Education Collaborative at Lexington High School. Today, the business partners with LABBB as a vocational training center for students with special needs. The shop and community space is accompanied by an adjacent restaurant, Omar’s Bistro.

    “We are known in the Muslim community because our bistro meat is halal. We are the only folks in Lexington who have halal burgers,” Masood said.

    Although the shop has not yet hosted Ramadan events, Masood said the family hopes to expand their celebrations in the future, including potentially hosting an Eid party next year. This year, he plans to celebrate Eid with his family and friends at a seafood buffet. 

    Community support during Ramadan extends beyond individual families. The Muslim American Community Center of Lexington, a local nonprofit organization, serves more than 200 families in the greater Boston area and provides programs and resources for Muslim residents throughout the year.

    According to Ghabieh, the Lexington Muslim Community also works to build connections with the town. Each year during Eid, members organize breakfasts for staff at Lexington Public Schools as well as the town’s fire and police departments.

    “These are small gestures, but they’re meaningful ways to show appreciation and build relationships,” she said.

    Over time, Ghabieh said she has seen growing awareness and support for Ramadan across Lexington. Local organizations have offered public spaces for prayer gatherings and iftar meals, and community institutions such as the library and community center have hosted displays and educational materials about the holiday.

    Last year, Lexington’s school committee voted to make Eid-al-Fitr an official holiday for Lexington schools. 

    “There has been greater openness and curiosity from the broader community,” Ghabieh said. “That helps Ramadan feel more visible and understood.”

    This story was written by a journalism student in BU’s Newsroom program, a partnership between the university, The Lexington Observer and other news organizations in the Boston area.

  • Lexington students launch civics program to connect youth, politicians

    From left to right: Kevin Chen, Grette Buttner and Rajvir Kalra gather at the Isaac Harris Cary Memorial Building, where they will host the first LexYouthCivics conference Saturday / Photo courtesy of Raluca Buttner

    Grette Buttner wanted a firsthand look at how her town government worked. She searched for school clubs and programs that would let her connect directly with elected officials and ask about local issues. When she couldn’t find one, The Winsor School junior started LexYouthCivics, a first-of-its-kind initiative that introduces Lexington high school students to the inner workings of local government. 

    “Establishing a base-level knowledge about how our town government works is our primary and fundamental goal,” Buttner said. “Some people don’t have that knowledge which, to me, is quite alarming.” 

    Lexington High School students Rajvir Kalra, Anya Sawant and Kevin Chen joined Buttner as project organizers. 

    Buttner came to their school looking for a team of students to collaborate with her on LexYouthCivics. “At the time she just had a name and a vague idea,” Kalra said. “She was looking for students who were interested in civics and town government … to create this event for students to participate in.”

    Kalra said that he was interested in public service but struggled to find a way to get involved in local government. Though his school offered clubs like Model UN and Mock Debate, he wanted a tangible way to gain experience and talk directly to officials in an open setting before going off to college.

    “That’s why I’m super passionate about joining LexYouthCivics and making it a reality,” he said. “I feel very deeply connected to this event.” 

    Together, the students developed a conference-style program. The four-hour event, which takes place at Cary Hall on Feb. 28,  event brings together local government officials, community leaders and high school students for an interactive day of learning about town government and civic engagement. Kalra said they expect Saturday’s event to draw 250 students. 

    The group spent months going door-to-door to local businesses, seeking sponsorships and hanging posters. In the end, the Lexington Youth Commission, Lexington League of Women Voters and Center Goods agreed to help finance the event. Lexington High School also agreed to allow the event to count toward students’ required community service hours. 

    “We really want to emphasize to students that it is important, especially within this political climate, to understand how you can be involved in making change within your own society,” Kalra said. 

    Buttner said she hopes the event will remind students about the ways civic participation can shape their lives and communities. “I want to remind students, ‘You should have political power,’” she said. “You should have the opportunity to sway policy and contribute to your town.”

    The event will run from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and feature a series of workshops, including a mock town meeting. Four speakers are scheduled: Select Board Member Jill Hai, Town Moderator Deborah Brown, Dominic Bronico, Pastor of Connections and Young Adults at Grace Chapel, and state Rep. Michelle Ciccolo. 

    Kalra said he is especially excited to hear from Ciccolo. “She obviously has so much experience in town and now the state government,” he said. “She’s someone that students don’t really have access to on a normal day.” 

    Ciccolo represents the 15th Middlesex District of Massachusetts, which includes parts of Woburn and Winchester, along with Lexington. In the legislature, she focuses on issues such as environmental sustainability, public health and education equity. 

    “It’s a really exciting initiative,” Ciccolo said. “I spent the first 25 years of my career in local government, and I very much appreciate the tangible and immediate impact that serving at the local level has. You can see the results of your work, and it’s much easier to understand how democracy works and how you can individually have a real, profound impact.” 

    Ciccolo said more money should be invested in civics education. Massachusetts has taken steps to strengthen it, including a 2018 law requiring student-led civics projects and promoting high school voter registration. Still, just 39% of eighth-graders met grade-level standards on the state’s first civics Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System in 2025. 

    “When we don’t teach civics, I think it raises residents and citizens to have less faith in their government and they don’t feel the moral obligation and responsibility to give back,” Ciccolo said. “That’s not good for democracy.” 

    Only 27% of registered voters participated in last year’s town election, up from 9% in 2023. That year, 80% of voters were older than 50. 

    Buttner said she hopes the event will encourage eligible students to vote in future elections and become more involved in Lexington. “We want students to be aware of what’s happening in the town,” she said. “Whether that means just going to the library or joining the Lexington Youth Commission.” 

    Looking ahead, Buttner and Kalra hope to expand LexYouthCivics. Buttner envisions a program that meets regularly to discuss local issues that affect students directly.  

    “I see LexYouthCivics … integrated into the Lexington consciousness and into the Lexington civic landscape,” she said. “I really hope it remains even when I eventually depart and go to college.” 

    Students may register for the event at: https://www.lexyouthcivics.org. 

    This story was written by a journalism student in BU’s Newsroom program, a partnership between the university, The Lexington Observer and other news organizations in the Boston area.

  • Lexington’s special education students are still catching up after the pandemic

    Three out of four Lexington students meet grade-level standards in English. But for students with disabilities, it’s one in three. That 44-point gap, detailed in a new report conducted by consulting firm New Solutions K12, highlights persistent academic achievement gaps within the district. 

    The January review praised Lexington Public Schools for investing in specialized staff and resources but found that students with disabilities, about 14% of the student body, have not rebounded academically from the pandemic. 

    Mona Roy, a candidate for School Committee and mother of two neurodivergent students, said the report’s findings were “highly predictable.” Her younger son graduated from Lexington High School in 2022. 

    “The report confirms what many of us feared: while general education students have largely recovered academically, students with disabilities have not,” she said. “As parents, we can support our children and reinforce learning at home, but that is fundamentally different from the work of trained educators.”  

    Lexington serves 6,524 students across 11 schools and consistently ranks among the highest-performing districts in the state. However, 2025 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) results show that at least 14 districts out performed Lexington among students with disabilities.

    “Since children start off in different places on their learning journeys, we want to be mindful of not only absolute achievement, but also growth,” Lexington Public Schools Superintendent Julie Hackett said. “If a student’s MCAS scores are very low, but their growth scores show gains each year compared to their cohort of peers, that is an important signal of progress.” 

    Lexington has a median annual household income more than double the state and national average. Pediatric neuropsychologist Eavan Miles-Mason, who works with Lexington families seeking special education services, said high overall achievement and private tutoring can mask deeper gaps. 

    “Students whose families can afford private, external support may ‘bump up’ the district’s reading scores, while students who do not receive adequate instruction or services may be left behind,” Miles-Mason said. When students with disabilities or socioeconomic disadvantages have lower achievement in an otherwise high-performing district, she said, it is often an indication that they’re not getting the appropriate instruction.  

    The report found that while 75% of students in grades 3-8 meet or exceed grade-level expectations in English, just one in three students with disabilities is proficient. Similarly, nearly 80% of all Lexington students meet grade-level expectations for math, compared with just over a third of students with disabilities. 

    Hackett cited limited access to the core curriculum and insufficient time with subject-matter experts as primary factors contributing to the gaps. “Not only do all students need access, but some students, depending on their abilities, may need more time with people who know the subject matter best,” she said. “Gaps will close with more time on learning and better access to the core curriculum.” 

    Roy said she was struck by the report’s staff allocation findings. Literacy specialists spend 22% of their time directly with students and math interventionists spend 18%. 

    “This raises important questions about how we structure educator work and whether we are directing resources to where they have the greatest impact,” Roy said. 

    The literary specialist and math interventionists split their time among direct student services, coaching, meetings and paperwork, planning and preparation and other activities. Other activities, including communication tasks, professional development, school duties, lunch and travel between buildings, took up the largest share of their time, according to the report. The literary specialist spent 32% of the workday on “other activities” while math interventionists spent 50%. 

    The report described staff as “hardworking” and “collaborative” and notes that educators care deeply about all students. However, it recommended that Lexington Public Schools adopt a consistent, districtwide reading program, provide extra support for struggling students and put more focus on promoting lifelong independence for students with severe disabilities. 

    “When we provide intensive one-on-one support throughout a student’s school experience, we may inadvertently create dependence rather than independence,” Hackett said. The district will focus on teaching self-advocacy, problem-solving and independence skills in the future, she said.

    The report comes as schools across Massachusetts continue to recover from pandemic-related learning loss. MCAS results remain below pre-pandemic performance statewide, with about 42% of students meeting expectations in 2025 compared with about half before COVID-19. No student group has fully regained its pre-pandemic test scores statewide, according to WBUR.  

    Lexington schools have recovered at a faster rate than the state overall and many peer districts. But students with disabilities still have not returned to pre-pandemic scores, according to the report. 

    “The learning loss was real, and our most vulnerable students were disproportionately impacted,” said Roy. “That damage lingers.”

    Roy described navigating the pandemic shutdown as a parent as “deeply frustrating.”

    “In our household, we pushed our son to keep working through the pandemic, alongside family death and separation. He did not get a semester off,” Roy said. “[Students with disabilities] face an uphill battle where they are either progressing forward or sliding backward. There is no standing still.” 

    In order to address these gaps, the report called for a redesign of the severe-needs special education program, including stronger reading instruction, extra support for students who struggle, as well as programs that help students with disabilities gain long-term independence.

    “Lexington’s special education system has been in place for decades now, and it’s a community-built system,” Hackett said. “Whether and how we make changes to special education delivery models will depend on the community’s willingness to try new things and explore different and perhaps better ways to address our students’ needs.” The district will host community workshops to identify top priorities, she said. 

    Roy said she worries that under financial pressure the school may cut necessary services that benefit students. Still, Roy sees the report’s findings as an opportunity to make changes that would have been harder to justify before. 

    “When we receive difficult news about outcomes, we can choose to reframe and reflect—and then recover,” Roy said. “Our students deserve that honest effort, and our educators deserve the support to deliver it.” 

    This story was written by a journalism student in BU’s Newsroom program, a partnership between the university, The Lexington Observer and other news organizations in the Boston area.