Director, E.A.T.S, Education and Arts Teaching Solutions
LAUSD, Interim Operations Coordinator - Local District-Northeast

Dr. Leah Bass-Baylis was the founding Principal of Valley Region #12 elementary school. Under her leadership, a partnership with Carlos Santana’s Milagro Foundation was forged and the school was renamed Carlos Santana Arts Academy. Throughout her career she has been a strong proponent of the arts. June 2019, she retired from this position.

Prior to joining Carlos Santana Arts Academy, Leah was the Principal of CHAMPS, Charter High School of The Arts, Multimedia and Performing and served as an Assistant Principal at Robert A. Millikan MS and Performing Arts Magnet where she founded the dance program. In 1998, Dr. Baylis was promoted to the position of Dance Coordinator and eventually Dance Specialist for Los Angeles Unified School District. She was the first to hold this position and was a member of the LAUSD Arts Education team that created a blueprint for comprehensive elementary arts programs throughout Los Angeles. She directly supervised dance instruction in 180 elementary schools and coordinated dance activities at all grade levels.

Leah has a B.A. from Spelman College, an M.A. degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an M.S. from Pepperdine University. In 2020 she received her Ed.D in Educational Leadership and Organizational Change from Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California. Prior to her career in education, Ms. Bass-Baylis enjoyed a career as a dancer/ singer/ actress and choreographer, completing national and international tours of numerous musicals including Arms Too Short To Box With God, Guys, & Dolls, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Little Shop of Horrors, Timbuktu, The Wiz, Black Nativity, and Carmen Jones. She was also dance captain for the Broadway production of The Tap Dance Kid where she coached tap impresarios, Harold Nicholas and Savion Glover. She is currently the director of E.A.T.S., Education and Arts Teaching Solutions and Interim Principal at Debbie Allen Middle School.