After a 31-year career in public education, Dr. Kyle Barrentine joined NIET as an Executive-in-Residence in the summer of 2025. Dr. Barrentine is responsible for expanding the reach of NIET’s work, relationships, and partnerships in Indiana and the Midwest. Kyle began his teaching career in 1993 as an English teacher in Nettle Creek School Corporation in Hagerstown, Indiana. After teaching for 9 years, Kyle accepted his first administrative position as the Assistant Principal at Western School Corporation in Russiaville, Indiana. Kyle landed in the MSD of Decatur Township as Decatur Middle School’s Principal where he first encountered the TAP system. It was here that Kyle recognized the power of the framework and system that took DMS from an F to a C in three years.

After serving as a building level administrator for 17 years, Kyle came full circle by being named the Superintendent at Nettle Creek School Corporation. Kyle served Nettle Creek through the COVID-19 pandemic by establishing the mantra of Communication-Transparency-Grace. From Nettle Creek, Kyle was named the Superintendent in the Shenandoah School Corporation in 2022. During his tenures as a superintendent, Kyle focused on aligning his schools from the perspective of teaching and learning. Kyle primarily did this through leading each district through a Strategic Planning process and by implementing the NIET instructional framework.

Kyle established a leadership framework where his districts were focused on growing their own leaders. In each district where Kyle served as the superintendent, when he departed the position, the district promoted the next superintendent from within the district to continue the work. At Shenandoah, the corporation, already a high-performing school district, scored 55 places higher in the state standardized scores in two years. Shenandoah Elementary School was named an NIET Founder’s Award finalist in 2025.

Kyle has served as an executive board member for the East Central Indiana Educational Service Center and the Indiana Communities in Schools. Kyle also served as a board member for the Henry County Economic Develop Council and was an advisory board member for the Institute for Education Innovation. In 2023, Kyle was selected as one of 25 superintendents nationwide to participate in the inaugural Google-GSV Innovation Fellowship. Kyle holds a Bachelor of Science from Butler University, a Master of Education from Indiana Wesleyan University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Indiana State University.