PROVO, Utah (AP) - Students at a charter school here will attend classes in a student-built, tent-like structure called a yurt instead of in a more expensive portable classroom while school officials raise money for a new building.

Administrators at the Walden School of Liberal Arts want to build a 20,000-square-foot building by next school year to help house more than 100 students from the seventh to 12th grade.

The school is currently renting space from the city of Provo where sofas in some classrooms substitute for desks.

The school, which receives public funding but is run by parents and students, has already bought property on 2.5 acres for $560,000.

But administrators aren't sure if they'll be able to finance construction of the school on time.

"We don't know if it will be ready," school director Diana West said. "It's looking less and less likely."

When the building is completed, school officials hope to add an elementary school. Evidenced by construction of the yurt, the school focuses on hands-on experience, with an emphasis on the outdoors.

During the second week of school students will hike and camp for several days in the Wasatch Mountains in an effort to bond with teachers and other students. Students participate in two expeditions a year, one in the fall and one in the spring.

"I'm not much of an outdoorsy person, but it's fun stuff," said Eva Asplund, a junior who began attending Walden after finishing at Farrer Middle School in Provo School District.