I was pretty much designated as a gifted student in 1st grade...they were thinking about advancing me up several grades (I recited every capital of every state to my principal from memory after studying my older sister's U.S Geography book for just a few hours). I also made virtually no mistakes on tests.
When we moved to a larger, more urban school district, I was relentlessly bullied (I was a skinny little kid), but I did keep straight "A"s until fourth grade. From there it went downhill. I finished HS as just a "C" average student, a long-haired wanna-be hippie with low self-esteem.
When I joined the Navy, I realized my potential once again...graduated top of my class in Avionics Tech schools.
And after I retired from the Navy, I went back to school and graduated from Fresno State Summa Cum Laude with a 3.97 GPA in Biology.
If I had children today, I would ABSOLUTELY home-school if I couldn't find a good charter school or good private school.
I "de-schooled" myself on every time we could find someone 21 to make the buy.