I agree with the other responders. I have twins with DYS qualifying scores in a public middle school - I would describe them as hg and hg+, respectively, but not pg. Our schools have had strengths and weaknesses thus far, but it is working out okay. The twins were extreme outliers at their elementary school, but the school had a lot of flexibility and a "special-needs-R-us" mindset, which, although not developed for gifted kids, worked to our advantage. Their middle school could probably be characterized as one of the strongest publics academically in our state, but still leaves a lot to be desired. A strength is that it is a big school, with some good extracurricular programs we've taken advantage of. We've also supplemented with online courses through NUMATS (ds is starting a computer programming course this week), and we are about to try out the local community college (dd is enrolled in a continuing ed. digital art course to start in April).
I totally agree that it depends on both the kid and the school. For our kids, who love the "schoolness" of school, the social aspects far outweigh the academic limitations. As parents, it helps that our kids will be able to take Honors Algebra 2 at the middle school as 8th graders, although not all subjects are that strong.
There is a gifted private school in our town, and although we could afford it, the public schools have not been SO bad that we've been compelled to do so. The privates are generally pretty small, which we see as a negative - in part due to having twins (more kids makes it easier for them to develop their own social circles, independent of one another). I also worry about an atmosphere of privilege at a private that would make us uncomfortable. Lastly, we know of families who are frustrated with private schools that nominally cater to advanced learners. I'd be annoyed to spend all that money AND have my kids needs not met.
