The worst part of his not being challenged is the school tests the kids regularly and knows he is advanced. His star reading score peaked at grade 6.1 in March. It started to go down after that, because March is when he gave up on trying at school and slipped to 5.1 by June.
Similarly his star math score peaked at a scaled score of 842 in March (>4th grade) and then started to go down to a low of 640 (still >4th grade) in June. He took the test for 1st graders in math which doesn't give a grade level for more than grade 4 and he wasn't allowed to take the upper grade test because the school had only paid for exactly the number of licenses they needed for each grade.
I understand why you say not to use the word bored, but it is sadly true. My son COULD make the best of the situation and try and enjoy school, but that is not his personality. I am working with him to try and improve his attitude, but it is slow going. I will however, remember that for my next meeting with the principal.
I talked/emailed his teacher and the principal multiple times with no success except for a few weeks of math enrichment. I asked if he could go with higher grades just for math/reading time but got that whole "gap" nonsense that others have mentioned here. I feel like we could remediate any possible gaps at home in a few hours.
I have just scheduled a full IQ evaluation for the end of August in the hope of possibly getting an IEP requiring him to be challenged. Nevada supposedly doesn't have gifted IEPs, but a teacher I met from the highly gifted program here told me they can be done.
My district does have a GATE (gifted and talented education) program, but it only starts in 3rd grade and is only for a couple of hours per week. My son goes to a smaller charter school that doesn't participate in GATE. I've thought about pulling him out and putting him in our local school, but it's very overcrowded, so much so that they just went to year-round classes and I can't see things improving when he's in an overcrowded classroom and school. Plus they're already made the classes for next year, so he'll be stuck wherever there is an opening instead of thoughtfully put with the teacher that might be a good fit.
I'm still reading through/processing the links posted above. I really appreciate everyone's responses and suggestions. I felt like I'm fighting this alone, but it helps to see others who have been there or are doing the same thing. Fighting for the kids who come after hit home too. My best friend has a highly gifted daughter at the same school who is entering 1st grade, so things I (hopefully) get changed will help her out too.
