Betty Ruth Bass is a native of Nashville. She and her husband have two sons and two grandsons. She returned to teaching in 1990.

Mrs. Bass attended the University of Mississippi where she obtained her BAE degree. She went back to school in 2001 to work on her masters. She was graduated from Cumberland University with a MAE degree.

Mrs. Bass taught at Murrell School and Park Avenue Elementary School before coming to W. A. Bass Middle in 2000. She started teaching Language! the first year it was introduced in MNPS and continues to teach this subject.

Language! is a phonics based reading course. It is designed to increase reading fluency and achievement so students can master the literacy skills needed to succeed in their grade level classes. Each lesson has six steps. These steps are Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition, Vocabulary and Morphology, Listening and Reading Comprehension, and Speaking and Writing.