Photo by Skip Lawrence Marion Dyer, a teacher from Bermuda, left, talks with Monocacy Valley Montessori Public Charter School Principal Meg Bowen during a visit Wednesday by a delegation of early childhood educators from Bermuda.

On Wednesday Their quest brought them to Frederick County where they visited a Head Start program and the Monocacy Valley Montessori Public Charter School in downtown Frederick .

The mission, visiting educator Jennifer M.C. De Rosa Holder said, is as much about building friendships and partnerships as it is about learning new techniques and practices to take back to their students.

The educators were invited under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program. The Maryland portion of the trip was coordinated by the World Trade Institute in Baltimore.

All five delegates on the eight-day trip work in early childhood education and development. They are particularly interested in early intervention and inclusion.

While at Monocacy Valley, the visitors met with Principal Meg Bowen, Assistant Principal Cita King and Kim Standing, president of the school's board of trustees. They then had about an hour to independently tour the school and observe classes. Several visitors stopped in to Phyllis Freeman's Suzuki Strings violin class. Five students, oblivious to the visitors, plucked away at a couple of songs while Freeman corrected technique and congratulated successes.

Toward the end of the visit, the Bermudian educators sat and talked with five middle school students.

The Montessori philosophy allows students to learn at their own pace. Eighth-grader Julianna Greenberg told the delegation that successful Montessori students have to learn how to manage their time and set priorities.

"We have goals here, but there are no rules about how fast or how slow you can go," she said. "We're on our own to meet our goals."

She told the story of a friend who, when faced with the freedom afforded Montessori students, goofed off too much and didn't get her work done. She transferred to a school with more structure and is doing well.

Kyle Ellswick, who is the only student enrolled in geometry -- as an eighth-grader -- said he likes the self-paced curriculum.

"You can move on when you have mastered the subject, but you can also stay behind and keep working if you don't get it right away," he said.

The students and teachers talked about dress codes -- or lack thereof -- testing procedures and advanced class offerings during the 90-minute visit.

As the visitors prepared to leave for a flight to Florida, Sherri-Lee Bucci, a preschool administrator, said such trips help foster understanding between countries with U.S. consulates, while also sharing ideas.

"We are really grateful and thankful for the opportunity to be here," she said.

After she saw her guests off, Bowen said it was a honor for her school to be singled out by the educators as one they wanted to visit.

"Absolutely, it validates what we're doing here," she said. "We're proud of what we do here and we're happy to share our ideas."