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Now that Wildcat Secondary School has a building and a staff, it's ready for the most important part: students.

Enrollment has begun for the only charter school in Arizona sponsored by a state university, in this case the University of Arizona. Richard Reyes, the charter school's director, said they're looking for 160 sixth- and seventh-grade students in the first year.

"We wanted smaller class sizes," he said. "We didn't want it to be too big. It's more personalized instruction."

The Wildcat School, one of four charters opening in Tucson this fall and one of 92 in the city, will be primarily a math and science academy. And though it is open to any Tucson resident and is free, the school's application says a student's parents must not be a graduate of a four-year university.

The school will add a grade each year up to grade 12. Students will be in school for 200 days, 20 more than traditional public schools, and spend about 6 1/2 hours in class each day. Students will be taught by UA faculty and students, and can participate in summer mentorships on the UA campus.

Reyes, a former Desert View High School assistant principal, spent most of the spring working with the Sunnyside Unified School District to lease the building at 5660 S. 12th Ave. The district wanted to use it for a preschool or an adult-education center, but the governing board said it would cost too much money to lease it.

Reyes said he and his staff moved into the building about a month ago. Davis Education Center, a charter school, formerly occupied the building, but vacated the the 19,920-square-foot-space in November.

Arizona State University also is getting into the charter school act. Officials there are setting up plans for four charter campuses to begin operations in 2007 and phase in through 2009. The schools' goals haven't been fully formed yet, but each campus will correspond to one of ASU's four campuses, said Maggie Mangini, ASU's director of university-school partnerships.

Starting next month, the staff will begin looking for models to follow, including the Wildcat School and a charter school at the Minneapolis Zoo, she said.

"The plans are wide open to opportunity and possibility," Mangini said.