Hi Kerry,
I would narrow down the choices of schools and neighborhoods (talk to realtors, check out
http://www.greatschools.net). Visit three or four schools and meet with the principal and gifted teacher at each one. You can learn a lot by meeting with the people who will be affecting your child's education. I live in SW Florida and what they've done here is put the magnet programs and the full time gifted programs in the WORST schools. For the full time middle school program there are more kids than there are openings so it's a lottery.
My boys attend our neighborhood school where there are lots of gifted kids. They are not the only HG kids at the school. Gifted pull-out is one day a week, but the school does ability tracking for the regular classes so all the gifted and high achievers are together. I still have my frustrations and have started afterschooling ...
What I have learned is that each school does things differently. The gifted teacher is not supervised by the school district so he/she can use any curriculum as long as the principal approves it. So there is no "standard" gifted program.
