Advocacy on both ends of the spectrum

Well, today I put my "advocating for the highly gifted" hat on, and took off, momentarily, the "advocating for the special needs" hat. We'll see where I get with it. My 6th grader just started science (they teach 1 semester history, 1 semester science in middle school). He could pass the 8th grade Science SOL before 6th grade science began. His science teacher is very excited, but also limited in what she can do. The range of knowledge in the students in her classes is rather w - - i - - d - - - e. So we brought in the guidance counselor who is very supportive of differentiating somehow (we all haven't quite figured out how yet), and now we are on to setting up a meeting with the principal who is very open to discussing this. I'm not sure what that means yet, but it does sound promising.