Status update: no testing is necessary for now. My son went through the screening for kindergarten, which is not designed to screen for giftedness. We got a letter in the mail accepting my son to kindergarten. T
hen my wife spoke with the school district and set up a meeting with our to-be vice principal, whose administrative assistant said that the way they handle grade skips in this part of NH is that the teachers assess the kid over the space of two weeks for social readiness, etc. and some tests are done one at a time during that period. If he does well in those tests, he will be skipped ahead at the end of the two weeks. I'm not sure what the chances are that he'll be skipped more than one grade, but I think I only want him skipped one grade right now anyway at a maximum.
I think this sounds like a pretty good system. It gives them a chance to see if he's emotionally/socially ready or would be better off in kindergarten. The testing is spread out, instead of being concentrated into a more stressful half a day or whatever. And it's free.
I'm not sure who does the actual tests, but we'll find that out at the meeting.
