We like the learning environment at his current school a lot, and it seems a better fit for his personality.
We were in somewhat of the same place a long time ago when our ds first started school. We chose the non-gifted magnet because we liked the personality fit of the school he was in better, and we felt we had a decent chance of differentiated instruction. It's a give and take for sure - in hindsight there were plenty of times I wished we'd sent him to the gifted magnet so he'd have intellectual peers and so he'd have advanced instruction, but otoh, we knew so many families who left the gifted school for reasons we were very concerned about - large amounts of homework, very strict traditional teaching methods, and a parent group that included a lot of parents who were so focused on IQ they didn't see anything else and were actually comparing students' IQs with each other as a matter of fluffing their own personal parental egos. The one concern I had which I think was probably most valid in not sending our ds - where he would be in terms of academics at the end of elementary - didn't turn out to be too much of a concern ultimately in spite of his not receiving much differentiation in the school he was in. He was easiliy subject accelerated upon entering middle school and he's now in a high-ability program in high school with peers from that original elementary program and he's right up there, hasn't missed a beat in terms of where he's at vs the other students. Does that mean he *could* have progressed higher in academics? Sure... but I think as long as you're choosing to send your child through any brick and mortar school system (public or private) you're going to face some type of instructional ceiling. And I'm ok with that - I appreciate the other things our kids have received from being in school.
We are trying to get his current school to commit to a certain level of instruction so that we feel confident that staying put won't be a disservice to DS. We also get that he will be one child out of 23-24 that needs to be instructed so we understand that there are limitations to what they can do for him.
You said that students who are identified for the HA program but opt to not switch to the HA magnet are eligible to receive HA services at their home school. There must be someone in the HA program who is responsible for helping to set up that plan - I'd be surprised if it was the principal alone? Has that person been involved in helping you determine what can be done for your ds during the next school year at his present school? I can't tell you who it would be in your school, but in our school district each elementary school has a gifted coordinator (sometimes shared between schools), and there are additionally contacts at the district level you can refer questions too. You can also ask if there are other parents who've made the same choice that you could talk to - that might help you get an idea of how well staying in the current school will work.
Best wishes,
polarbear
