MOUNT HOPE, Kan. (AP) -- An associate professor and graduate students at McPherson College want to transform a recently closed school into a public charter school.

The Hutchinson News (http://bit.ly/V6q3FJ ) reports that the school being targeted is located in the central Kansas town of Mount Hope.

Mark Malaby of McPherson College says that to be financially sustainable, the Mount Hope charter school has to attract students not currently enrolled in the Haven district. That would allow it to bring in additional state aid.

The plan calls for a project-based "rural life" charter school. It would serve kindergartners through high-schoolers, possibly with an entrepreneurial focus for Grades 7-12.

The hope is that such a school would appeal to families in northwest Wichita, less than 30 minutes away, or to families who are home-schooling children.