Upon first interaction with Ms. Viglietta, the thing that immediately stands out about her is her pure enthusiasm, especially surrounding literature. Ms. Viglietta is the newest addition to the Upper School English Department. She teaches freshman and junior classes and is the new co-advisor for the Cardall Advisory. Before moving to Baltimore, Ms. Viglietta lived in many other places, the first one being West Virginia. Her hobbies include reading, traveling with her family, hiking, and visiting museums. Prior to working at Bryn Mawr, she spent a large portion of her career working in museums with her favorite kind being art museums as she can spend hours at a time in one, never losing interest. She most recently worked at the Folger-Shakespeare Library Museum in Washington, D.C.

When asked about the music she listens to, Ms. Viglietta shared that Dvořák and Tchaikovsky are her favorites. She has a five-year-old daughter who just began learning how to play the violin. Consequently, Ms. Viglietta has been listening to a lot of classical music. However, her Spotify also includes lots of ‘80s pop and ‘90s alternative, so she enjoys listening to a variety of music.

Before joining the Bryn Mawr community, Ms. Viglietta taught English literature at a few different schools in Washington, D.C. and English language classes in France for a year. Later, she worked at Johns Hopkins, teaching other teachers but missed educating young people, especially high schoolers. The first things she noticed about Bryn Mawr were the joy flowing throughout campus and the “intellectual verve” and “sincere curiosity” within the student body. She says she was drawn to work here because of how “academically vibrant” and “warm” this school seemed. and she wanted to become a part of it. Her family consists of many other teachers, so it felt like the natural career choice for her. She was positive that she wanted to teach after realizing that she “couldn’t imagine a life without the excitement of discovering new things about words and ideas.” She views high school as a time of growth, inquiry, and change, and she is so excited to watch her students experience it, as well as learn new things herself. 

Although she is interested in all of the books in Bryn Mawr’s English curriculum, Ms. Viglietta is most looking forward to teaching Beloved by Toni Morrison. When asked if she had any book recommendations, she shared her top picks: We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry, The Beadworkers by Beth Piatote, Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb, as well as any poetry by Rita Dove.

The number one thing Ms. Viglietta requested to be shared with the Bryn Mawr community is how genuinely happy she is to be here and how much she is looking forward to growing, learning, and exploring literature alongside her students. Her message is that “every single one of you has something important to say, [...] and I consider it a privilege and a joy to be able to hear those things.”