Hi ConnorsDad-

I think you should go ahead and share your son's test scores with the school and see what happens. If they try to tell you that they see a lot of PG kids, you know they can't have any idea about levels of giftedness. Personally, I believe there is a bump in the bell curve that has more PG kidlets on earth than statistics suggest, but even so, 99.9th percentile is very rare indeed. It is highly unlikely that you will find another child at your Connor's level in his entire school, never mind his classroom. Makes it tough to find true peers.

Nevertheless, I do know of some PG kids who thrive in traditional schools. I think you should be bold and cautiously optimistic, and see what accommodations are offered.

Here's a piece I did on grade skipping:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art27061.asp

I also have an article about mentoring here: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art42217.asp

I hope you find these helpful.

As far as getting together with other gifted families, there are several options. First of all, you may be lucky enough to find gifted playmates through school. One on one playdates are the BEST way to forge friendships, and I recommend that you arrange these as tandem parent/child meetings at first. Five year olds can be fickle, and it may take a few closely supervised sessions to get the kids used to each other and playing comfortably. Small interest based groups are also great for developing relationships, and you can form a science club if that's what your son is into right now. I don't want to drown you in my scribblings, but take a look at this one on interest based clubs:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10774.asp

Finally, I encourage you to consider applying to the Davidson Young Scholar Program. I didn't believe in the value of true intellectual peers until I saw my son at his first Davidson gathering several years ago. It really opened my eyes. These kids experience life so differently; it really does help when they are able to connect with similar kids. That's not to say that all their playmates have to be gifted and profoundly so, just that it is a different sort of connection and very rich.

best wishes-