[longshadow]

Of course, the high school administrators used all kinds of scare tactics (my parents even had to sign some kind of waiver) in order to discourage the parents from accelerating their kids.

Indeed; the High School advisor told my parents it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to take Physics as a freshman -- it took the intervention of the Physics teacher personally to arrange it. The advisor was convinced I was going to flunk.

By mid-year, I had an "A" in the course.

[dufekin]

Gosh. My high-school physics was calculus-based, and calculus then wasn't taught until the 12th grade. (They made it the standard track for 11th graders the year I graduated.) Then again, the teacher was a doctoral student personally recruited by the principal at the last moment. (She happened to have the necessary teaching credentials, but decided to do something more sensible.)