ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Today’s the first day for the Rochester City School District lottery. The district is closing or consolidating 11 schools — meaning thousands of students must find a new place to go.

Parents who enter their child into the lottery get first crack in the selection process. If you don’t enter your child, they will be placed in the school closest to their home.

Too many buildings and not enough kids.

Eleven schools will close at the end of the school year, and five of them will be reconfigured and then reopened.

The lottery, which continues through Jan. 5, is only open to students who are being displaced, and administrators say it’s extremely likely they’ll get their top choice of new school.

Throughout December, the district is holding open houses for parents who want to tour schools and ask questions. (Go here for a complete list of open houses.) The goal now is to just get the word out about the lottery.

“So if we’re going to reach out, right? So we have staff that’s ready. We’re able, we’re keeping track of which families have made their selections, which ones haven’t. We’re going to reach out to those families. We’re going to call, we’re going to make home visits. We’re going to really encourage them to participate in it. And after we’ve done our due diligence and we still don’t have a response, students will be placed in the school closest to their home,” Ruth B. Turner, Deputy Superintendent for Administration and Support at RCSD, said.

If you’re a parent with a child getting displaced, you can go here to sign up for the lottery.