Joseph Martin Elementary students had no idea the vice president’s wife was scheduled to visit their school until early Monday morning.

Students were surprised to learn about the visit by Dr. Jill Biden and Sheila Casey, the wife of U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr., which included a stop in the cafeteria to talk with students who were eating lunch, a brief exchange with teachers and a visit to a fifth-grade classroom.

"It was a complete surprise," Principal Sue Tolley said, although she learned of the tour a week ago. "We were contacted by someone from the Army and asked to be the host school and were very happy to accept."

Both women were dressed in suits as they entered the lunchroom, flanked by Secret Service agents, and said hello to students there. Biden thanked the students for welcoming the group and asked how many had parents in the military. Nearly every small hand in the room shot up.

Biden and Casey then were escorted to the school’s small library, where they sat with educators to discuss issues impacting military families and students.

"Making good education possible for military families is close to my heart," Biden told the circle of educators in the library. "I’m a military mom; I’m a teacher and I bring greetings from the first lady and the president because this is one of the major issues they want to work on — having good education for all Americans."

Biden and Casey listened to concerns from teachers, school counselors and other education officials about school resource issues, how deployments impact children and how to improve parent involvement.

Biden and Casey visited Tracy Zapf’s class because Zapf’s husband has been deployed three times. The fifth-grade instructor is an "outstanding teacher," Tolley said.

Zapf said she was amazed at her students’ responses and questions for the second lady. Biden discussed her involvement in Delaware Boots on The Ground, a nonprofit organization that assists military members and families during deployment, and www.serve.gov, an online resource that helps volunteers find opportunities to work in their communities.

"It was incredible seeing the children’s responses," Zapf said. "They seemed very excited and aware of how big of a day this was for them."

The principal said that although the visit was short, she thought it was beneficial to students and staff. She also said the two special guests didn’t talk much, but listened attentively to the educators’ concerns.

"She’s very concerned about education and military families," Tolley said of Biden. "It was nice to know that we do have an advocate and to help us with the challenges we face with the military community."