NEW HAMPTON N.H. (AP) – Illness has kept him at home, but 11-year-old Zachary Ellis is still going to class.

Zachary, of New Hampton, attends four classes each day with the students at Newfound Memorial Middle School through the use of laptop computers, the Internet and Web-based cameras. Students can hear him ask questions, make comments and see him raise his hand, even though he is sitting in his room at home.

Recently, he presented a book report to the class. One student held up a poster that he had made earlier in the week, while Zachary explained the report to the class using an Internet camera.

At the end of each class, a student unplugs the laptop from the teacher’s modem and wheels the computer on its cart to Zachary’s next class, where it is plugged in again.

Zachary has wireless Internet at his house, which allows him to move from room to room in the home he shares with his mother and 9-year-old brother, Sawyer.

Zachary was diagnosed with autoimmune liver disease and Crohns disease two years ago. Both conditions deplete the immune system, limiting his interaction with others that may expose him to germs, especially during flu season.

Though he received a flu shot, Zachary recently went off some of his medications because long-term exposure can cause cancer.

The use of the laptops and Internet began as an experiment, but it helped Zachary stay on track in the fifth grade. Over the summer, his mother, Jayne, approached the staff at the middle school and asked that the technology be used for him during the sixth grade.

Jayne said that many different issues have arisen since the beginning of the school year. Sometimes the Internet servers go down, other times the camera isnt working properly, or Zachary cant hear what is going on in the classroom because the speakers arent plugged in.

Zacharys math teacher, Verrold Currier, said the system has become more routine.

“I wasnt very comfortable at first,” Currier said, because he wasnt used to the new system. He said that now that he is accustomed to the computer and camera, “overall I am very happy with it.”

Jayne is hoping that Zachary will be able to return to school in the spring after flu season, but for now, she is happy that he is keeping up with the other sixth graders. He was on the high honor roll last quarter.

One thing he gets away – attending his classes with his dog, a Schipperke named Daisy. Daisy sits in his lap, but Zachary has to watch his behavior.

“Mom said I cant spin in my chair,” Zachary said.