I had the exact same feeling as blackcat. When my older child started school we were all excited, he was excited, we were looking forward to a good educational experience because we were in a very good district with lots of highly educated parents and a strong emphasis on academics, and because my son had a very positive experience during preschool--the teachers really understood him and his needs. Things weren't too bad in K and grade 1. Then we moved to another state, another town with lots of highly educated parents and a strong emphasis on academics, and a supposedly superb district. Then starting from second grade things have not been good at all. We have encountered every typical attitude that teachers and administrators hold against gifted kids, as decribed in all the gifted education books that we have read. It's been our family that have done all the work to make sure my kids are learning what they need to learn, and to help them cope with an environment that demands them to fit in a box. And what's sad is that it's not just the public schools. My son is now in a private school and the difference is not much----they still want him to fit in a box, just a different box. My younger child has an easier time at school because we have no expectations for the school at all and we are more experienced in helping her cope. I feel that our schools are indeed failing the capable and motivated students.