VAIL, Ariz. - It's small, but, Sydney Scharer says it's cozy.

Scharer and her husband Simon moved into a 400 square-foot tiny home on E. Colossal Cave Rd. in Vail with their two dogs a year and a half ago.

Sydney's an elementary school teacher in the community southeast of Tucson.

"You know I never really had a bigger space," Scharer said. "I went from living in the college dorms to living in a small apartment because that's what I could afford as a first year teacher. To get the opportunity to upgrade to a tiny house, I got rid of neighbors, I got rid of the constant hustle and bustle and I got to live out in the Vail School District here which is most important to me."

The contractors of this latest design are the students in the construction class at Cienega High School and celebrated their first open house with a ribbon cutting Thursday.

"One of the most fun things was the learning process along the way," Cienega High School senior Ryan Spry said. "I found an invaluable set of skills. I made a lot of friends and definitely one of the most fun things about it for me personally was running the electrical."

Students are building these tiny homes with a big goal in mind: To give back to the district's teachers as Vail struggles with a lack of affordable housing.

Teachers can rent the tiny homes for about $600 per month.

"We're 425 square miles as a school district and we have no apartments within the school district boundaries," Vail School District Superintendent John Carruth said. "The first set of apartments are under construction. It is students who are building houses for teachers who are investing in them."

The students spent all last semester building one house. They will spend this semester building a second house that will be ready to rent this spring.