How did your DS do on the ACT Aspire that you mentioned previously on your 8/30/17 post? If he scored highly on the ACT Aspire, then the Distict may still accelerate him even if his ACT scores are a few points lower than the district average. The Aspire is like the former Explore (which was normed against 8th graders with lots of data for Winter 3rd through Fall 8th graders as comparison), which may be more relevant when considering acceleration into middle school. It may not be advisable to accelerate into high school with those ACT scores but that doesn't mean he wouldn't benefit from middle school. Of course, if things are going well on the social front, it probably won't hurt too much to take a breather and see what the district comes up with after reviewing everything.