Corinna Ramirez could take an American literature exam lounging by the pool this summer.

“If only I had a laptop,” the soon-to-be Lawrence High School senior joked Tuesday at an orientation for students enrolled in the Lawrence school district’s “learning extensions” program.

Ramirez and 129 other high school students signed up for the online program that allows them to retake courses they failed the past school year.

That sounds a lot like summer school. But in the Lawrence school district, that no longer exists.

“We will no longer offer a ‘seat time’ summer school,” said Terry McEwen, the district’s secondary summer programs specialist.

From now on, students who need to retake classes will do so year-round, through the Lawrence Virtual School.

“All of the instruction is delivered online via the Internet,” said Gary Lewis, Virtual School principal. “There is a client we give them to load onto the computer. They use that client to access the system that’s on our server and they start working.”

Students will communicate with teachers via e-mail, unless a face-to-face meeting is requested. Assignments are “handed in” through e-mail attachments.

The learning extensions program is currently offered only to students in ninth through 12th grades. Students are able to take up to three courses at $85 per course, the same amount the district once charged for summer school classes.

Before starting, students are tested to see how much they know about a particular subject. Coursework is designed around the test results so students don’t have to learn concepts they’ve already mastered.

“This will actually focus on the individual needs of students and give them credit for what they already know and then help them make up the deficiencies for what they don’t know,” McEwen said.

Students at Tuesday’s orientation seemed pleased by the change.

6News video: Online program offered for students needing summer class

“He (Lewis) said it could take up to eight weeks but he said if you were a pretty good student most of the time, you could have it done in as little as two,” said Josh Summers, who will be a senior at LHS next year. “I’m going to try to do it fast as possible.”

Students said another perk was that they didn’t have to be in school at a specific time every day. Learning can happen any time, anywhere.

“For some of the kids, the very reason why they’re here is because they can’t be at school,” said Virtual School English teacher Charlie Goolsby. “They don’t like being in a classroom. They don’t like having to be on time or within a certain time, so I think those kids will really flourish in this kind of program.”

The only time limit is that all coursework be completed by July 29.

Lewis said students would have to be self-motivated or they won’t get credit for their work.

“Don’t just sit back and then try to start doing your work on July 15,” he told a late-morning crowd of about 30 students. “You won’t get finished. You won’t pass.”

Right now, the program helps students recover credits needed to graduate high school on time, but school district officials said they hoped to include seventh- and eighth-grade courses in the future.

“The seventh- and eighth-grade component will be used to address learning gaps, a sort of support coursework that will help students grasp concepts they’re struggling with,” McEwen said.

No word yet when that might happen.