CHATSWORTH, Ga. — North Murray High School has a mascot, school colors and plenty of students attending come fall, but the new school technically won’t be ready until 2010.

North Murray High’s building will open in fall 2010, but until then North Murray will host only ninth- and 10th-graders, said Dean Donehoo, Murray County Schools director of administrative services. The students will be at the former Bagley Middle School building across from Murray County High School.

Those 10th-graders will be the first graduating class at the new school, and the class of 2013 — Bagley’s current eighth-graders — will be the first four-year graduating class at North Murray.

North Murray principal Maria Bradley worked to pump up Bagley’s students at a recent pep rally.

“Bagley’s eighth-grade students are going to be the trendsetters, the pacemakers and record-setters at North Murray,” she said. “You are going to be the standard that all other students that follow you are going to be graded by.”

At that pep rally, administrators for the new high school also unveiled the high school’s black-and-gold colors and nickname: the Mountaineers.

Mrs. Bradley said she has lofty goals for the school’s athletics, band, fine arts programs and fans.

“I want the people of Murray County to dream in black and gold,” she said.

Eighth-grader Brady Swilling plays quarterback at Bagley Middle and is the son of North Murray assistant principal Keith Swilling.

“I love the colors,” Brady said, even though they resemble those of the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers and he’s a New England Patriots fan.

North Murray athletics director Josh Lowe, the former head football coach at Murray County High School, said the school initially will play a junior varsity schedule in football and a few other sports until its athletics program is more established.