MAMom,
I am in MA also. As said above, the only way to get the school to test is if there are other issues that fall under the category of special education and giftedness does not count here. We had one lucky break but it didn't occur in a public school. When my DD was in PreK and my son in first we started the year at a small catholic school. We chose the school for its small class sizes. Within the first month the principal, the first grade teacher and the third grade teacher came to me and strongly urged me to move him up to second grade immediately. We did choose to grade skip but moved later that year and went back to the public schools. They actually fought me to move him back down but I insisted they keep him in second and they reluctantly did. Now he is in fourth grade and still not having a good fit in school.
I eventually had him tested privately and the school welcomed the scores and his teacher makes a bit more effort with him but it is still not enough. Most MA schools are focused purely on the MCAS and the kids who score in the upper end really don't impact their performance levels required for funding. Even if a teacher recognizes a child's different abilities their first priority is making sure everyone can achieve basic proficiency - her job and the schools funding depends on it.
I am finishing up my Master's in Elementary Ed. and seriously considering opening my own homeschool-school for children such as ours. For now, in MA, I do not see any real or significant accommodations occurring in the public schools. I also wonder about my teaching in such an atmosphere.
Look into your local catholic schools or other private schools to see how gifted friendly they may be. The catholic school tuition was a fraction of what the parochial private schools wanted.
I would urge you now though to find some alternatives as the years progress. My DS8 now does not like school, puts in zero effort and it is such a shame.
