We chose French immersion initially. Immersion programs can be excellent choices for gifted kids, especially if they don't speak the language to begin with (it helps if one parent can at least get by in the language).
The French schools are good choices because they follow the national curriculum of France. It's all very organized, and the kids really learn how to read, write, and think in the language. The ability of these schools to achieve this in a short period is just outstanding.
The French part was great for our DS8 for about ~3 years, though there were always problems with the English side. After that, the only subject that was any kind challenge was French grammar. We kept him there for 4 years and he is now able to attend after-school grade-level classes for native speakers (the standards are slightly higher, given that almost everyone speaks French as a native language).
Our DS6 didn't thrive in the French school and given the situation of both kids, we moved to a school that's more suited to gifted kids. It's a very small private school.
The public schools would have been a disaster. I called a few local ones last year when we had decided to pull out of the French one, and they were all very, very down on grade skips or even subject acceleration. We're very fortunate that we can send our kids to a private school, and are very, very aware that the precarious economy might mean it isn't an option next year.
Hope this helps. What are you considering?
Val
