Four days in one district
NSTA INDY26 runs Wednesday 4 November through Saturday 7 November 2026 at the Indiana Convention Center, 100 South Capitol Ave, Indianapolis. The venue's event feed forecasts 4,000 attendees.
The organiser states it will not run shuttle service between the conference hotels and the convention center. Rooms move through IMN Solutions, the official housing provider, and all reservations must arrive by 11 October 2026 to guarantee availability and conference rates.
Wednesday: the ticketed day starts at 7:15 a.m.
Ticketed-event registration opens at 7:15 a.m. General conference registration runs 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Eight Professional Learning Institutes run 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Leadership Development Academy runs 8:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Participants in a Professional Learning Institute or the Leaders Institute receive free breakfast and lunch.
The STEM Showcase fills Exhibit Hall J from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. First-Timers runs 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. A concurrent session block runs 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. The opening reception runs 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. and is complimentary. David Ranalli performs Mindgames: The Science of Astonishment from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
NSTA's sessions-and-workshops page dates the Wednesday First-Timers session at 3:15 to 3:45 p.m. The schedule PDF and the special-events page each give 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. The 2:30 window is the one published twice.
Thursday: keynote at 9:30 a.m., Expo Hall at 11:00 a.m.
Mark Sibla delivers the keynote from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Sibla was named senior vice president of competition and operations for INDYCAR in February 2025. He directs INDYCAR's next-generation IR28 race car and its 2.4-litre hybrid powertrain platform, both scheduled to debut in 2028.
The Expo Hall opens Thursday at 11:00 a.m. and closes at 5:00 p.m., with the hall opening ceremony from 10:50 to 11:00 a.m. and exclusive attendee hours from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Registration opens at 7:00 a.m. and closes at 5:00 p.m.
Poster sessions run 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Concurrent sessions fill 1:00 to 4:40 p.m. The Leaders Institute for Administrators runs 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with the same 7:15 a.m. registration opening.
Friday and Saturday: the floor shrinks
Friday's Expo Hall hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with exclusive hours from 11:40 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. Poster sessions repeat at 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Concurrent sessions run 8:00 to 11:40 a.m. and again 1:20 to 5:00 p.m. Speed Sharing runs 1:20 to 2:20 p.m.
Saturday's clocks are tighter. Registration runs 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., concurrent sessions 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and the Expo Hall 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The closing reception runs 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., and drink tickets are distributed at the final concurrent session from 1:00 p.m.
Morning Coffee Chats run Friday and Saturday, 6:40 to 7:40 a.m. Sunrise Yoga runs Thursday and Friday, 6:40 to 7:40 a.m. The Haven sits in Marriott Ballroom 6 at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown. Its complimentary lunch follows a different grade level each day: elementary and informal education Thursday 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., high school Friday 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., and middle school Saturday 11:40 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. Seating is limited and needs a reserved lunch ticket.
The skywalk route from the block to 100 South Capitol Ave
The organiser's housing page lists 13 hotels. The Visit Indy map behind its “View Map” link marks nine of them as connected to the convention center: the Marriott Downtown at 350 W. Maryland St., the JW Marriott at 10 S. West St., the Courtyard at 601 W. Washington St., the Fairfield at 501 W. Washington St., the SpringHill Suites at 601 W. Washington St., the Hyatt Regency at 1 S. Capitol Ave., the Westin at 241 W. Washington St., the Omni Severin at 40 West Jackson Place and the Embassy Suites at 110 W. Washington St. Each carries the note “Connected to convention center”.
Four hotels sit outside the network. The map marks the Hampton Inn Downtown at 105 S. Meridian St. and the Hyatt Place at 130 S. Pennsylvania St. three blocks from the convention center. It marks the Holiday Inn Downtown at 515 S. West St. and the Tru by Hilton at 601 Russell Ave. two blocks.
The map draws the skywalk along the north side of the Convention Center, links the connected hotels along it, and sends a spur south along Capitol Ave toward Lucas Oil Stadium.
Straight-line distances put the whole block inside 660 metres of the Convention Center entrance. The Westin measures 308 metres and the headquarters Marriott 312 metres. The four hotels off the network run from 471 metres at the Holiday Inn Downtown to 636 metres at the Hyatt Place. These are straight-line measurements between geocoded addresses.
The venue publishes 7,100 hotel rooms in downtown Indianapolis and 4,700 rooms connected to the building by skywalk. It gives a rule of thumb for the walkway: lock-down at approximately 11:00 p.m. and re-opening at approximately 6:00 a.m.
Two clocks to set before you travel
Book through IMN Solutions by 11 October 2026. The organiser states that later reservations run on availability and that hotels may charge higher rates. Housing agents answer 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern, Monday to Friday, on (571) 579-3867.
The Leadership Experience ticket is the one price the organiser publishes: $525 for a bundle the page values at over $1,400, covering the Leadership Development Academy, the Leaders Institute, full conference registration, leadership-focused sessions, Leaders Lounge access and networking with education leaders.