I would try to take a deep breath - remember it's a journey, and it's a long journey! I would throw all worries about the Science Olympiad test out the window. The difference between missing 1 problem or missing 4 isn't the end of the world, and probably doesn't mean anything. You can ask him what he thinks he missed and why, but don't make a big deal out of it. If he tells you something that's significant (a reason why a certain type of problem was difficult), then think that through, but if not, it's one test, it's over, he's on the team. It's all good, really.
Re the HG school, really whether or not it's worth considering is most likely entirely school dependent. We kept our kids in private school through (an accelerated but not gifted program), not for accelerated academics, but because it was a very nice environment to simply *be* and enjoy life, each other and learning. Our 2e ds is in high school now - and he purposely chose a highly competitive gifted program. There are times it's been tough logistically (dealing with the 2nd e), and he doesn't have the stellar grades he most likely could have if that had been our focus and criteria for choosing a program - but he chose the program specifically so he could go to school with high ability peers, and he loves it for that reason.
Anyway, re the social skills and anxiety, are there any *other* school options available? Sometimes just looking at academics isn't really what makes a difference in a school experience. My ds has expressive and pragmatic language challenges, and making friends and feeling like he fit in was *tough* - until we found the smaller private school. It wasn't that it was a small school, that it was private, or anything else, but it was the school's atmosphere that made a huge difference for him. He felt like he fit in, he made friends, he didn't have to be somebody he wasn't etc. He wanted out of his first school like crazy and listed one of the reasons as the boring level of classroom conversations and not enough challenge... but at the end of the day, after making the switch, it was the social things that really made a huge difference for him.
Hope that makes sense!
Best wishes,
polarbear
