The real benefit was the ability to be placed into the gifted class with people of similar intelligence where we would work on semester long research projects and play games like chess etc.

Elementary school in particular was painfully boring. I memorized most of the material in minutes and I just sat in class day dreaming or doodling unless the teacher was one that allowed me to read library books. I said it as a child and I'll still say it now but if public schools are going to exist then they should have a separate curriculum for the academically inclined students. I just happened to go to a pretty decent but small school where everyone knew everyone else's family well.