Tupper Lake Middle-High School (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

TUPPER LAKE — The Tupper Lake Middle-High School will host an open house on Wednesday, Oct. 9.

The start times are different, based on students’ class year. For grades six through nine, the event is from 4 to 4:45 p.m. Grades 10 through 12 are from 5 to 5:45 p.m.

Superintendent Jaycee Welsh said the event is an opportunity for parents and guardians to get to know teachers and have any remaining questions they have answered.

“It’s for parents and guardians to put faces with names and ask any questions that they have after the first couple weeks of school,” she said.

The timing is important. Welsh said having classes already underway for a few weeks allows a lot of the initial confusion inherent with the start of any school year to have been worked out. This leaves the open house to answer any lingering questions or those that have spawned after classes began.

“The students have had a chance for their courses to start. By this point, students have an understanding of the course expectations, workload and grading,” Welsh said.

The open house allows parents to bring their questions all the way to the top if they pertain to a topic beyond any specific course or teacher.

Welsh said that she, Principal Chris Savage and staff from the guidance department will all be in attendance. The application process for seniors considering college, in which guidance departments play a pivotal role, no longer feels like a distant reality. Some early-round application deadlines, depending on the specific institution, are only a couple of months away.

Welsh said family engagement tends to improve the academic experience and performance for the student, noting that is a priority for her as she begins her first academic year at the helm of Tupper Lake’s schools.

“Research shows us that family engagement increases student achievement. Anytime we can get our families involved in what the students are doing on a day-to-day basis makes the communication and experience for the students much better,” she said.