As the high school application season heats up for 8th-graders and their families this weekend, the Department of Education is sponsoring fairs in all five boroughs. While not exactly relaxing, these fairs are much smaller than the citywide fair (held at Brooklyn Tech last month).

Students, who meet 8th or 9th-grade promotional standards, and who have not applied for high schools yet, can walk among the tables more calmly and speak to representatives from high schools in their borough. This might be the time to ask the specific questions you might not be able to ask on a school tour or at an open house.

And, it's a good idea to tour the schools you are interested in before applying. Many schools will have flyers advertising their tour schedules, so you can collect those as well at the fair.

Check out the fair in your borough -- and let us know how it goes. All fairs run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. In the Bronx, go to the Roosevelt High School building; in Brooklyn, Murrow High School; in Manhattan, the Martin Luther King building; in Queens, Frances Lewis, and on Staten Island, New Dorp High School.

If you still have questions, you can attend one of the DOE's upcoming evening high school information sessions, running through Nov. 12.