We live a little farther up the peninsula than South Bay.
We have art, science, and field trips, funded by either the district's education foundation or the PTA. Fundraising is not horribly guilt tripping: the district is economically diverse and they won't push. Our school does an OK (not stellar, not enough for kids above the +2SD mark) job at differentiation in LA and math.
Different districts, sometimes bordering each other, can have completely different populations and personalities. Diverse districts will have wild variation from school to school. You might need to talk with an education consultant who knows the range of possibilities...
There are three private schools for gifted kids. They have different approaches, and tend to be expensive (25k/year?).
