Your 12-year-old may have just completed 7th grade on Monday, but now is the time for you to start thinking about high school.

Schools handed out the 535 page directory of high schools to 7th graders  last week. (Didn't get one?  Stop by the nearest enrollment office.) While it's not exactly required summer reading, those who do read it will find  information about every high school in the city including what it takes to get in, what time freshman have to arrive at school, whether there is a dress code, and the number of students who applied and were accepted last year. There's also information on how the school was graded on its progress report.

To introduce middle school families to the complex admissions process, the Department of Education enrollment office is offering seven evening workshops, with the first one -- "Understanding My High School Options" -- being held tonight at Brooklyn Tech High School.

The first thing you'll learn is that there are nearly 600 high school options to consider, including schools and programs within schools. Each successive workshop will tackle a different topic including specialized high schools, career and tech schools, arts schools, charters schools, and more.<!--more-->

This year the DOE has recruited parentambassadors to help other parents understand the system. Some 50 parents and community members became ambassadors, attending Saturday morning workshops from January to April that introduced them to the ins and outs of high school admissions. These volunteers will be on hand at workshops and fairs to help answer questions.

How helpful are the workshops? For parents who have not gone through the high school admissions process, they can be very informative. For most city residents the days of sending your 13-year-old to the neighborhood high school are long gone. Even if you think you know how it works, listening to other parents' questions and answers can be constructive. And, you'll be more prepared when admissions season ratchets up in September for the round of school visits, auditions, and tests.

The gigantic high school fair, introducing you to representatives from all schools in the city, will be held on Oct.2 and 3; borough fairs on Oct. 16-17.

What else should you be doing this summer to help prepare your 8th-grader? Check out Liz Willen's posts on High School Hustle about how to studyfor the specialized high school exam, the perils of choice, the ins and outs of visiting schools, and other pertinent posts, which include many thoughtful comments and suggestions about schools by parents.

Planning on attending the workshops? Please share what you learn with other parents. Comment below!