When doors to the new Mattie Lively Elementary School open some time next year students will not be the wildest creatures found in its halls.
    The children will be joined by dinosaurs, an alligator, eagles and other indigenous wildlife that have called Georgia and the region home throughout millennia.
    The school’s corridors will feature murals of various animals and environments along the walls and floor, documenting the natural history of the area and allowing students to journey through time while they journey to class.  
    “At Mattie Lively, we have decided to go with a Georgia theme,” said Lewis Holloway, superintendent for Bulloch County Schools, who noted that other schools have also incorporated themes — art and designs at Julia P. Bryant Elementary focus on global aspects, while Sallie Zetterower features a United States theme.
    “The centerpiece is a 50-foot map of Georgia — located on the floor of the cafeteria — featuring rivers, major cities and historical places,” he said. “In the foyer, we will tell the story of Georgia through murals and displays. We will go back to prehistoric times, telling the story of Pangaea, continue to the Ice Age, and then visit the era of Native Americans before finishing with current aspects of the state.”
    As students enter the first floor of the new, two-level facility, they will likely notice the first of many murals, an eagle in mid-flight — the eagle is the school’s mascot.
    Continuing down the hall, children can spot a mammoth, manatee, turtle and dolphin — each depicted in their own natural environment.
    The building’s second floor will be dedicated to Gray’s Reef, a live-bottom reef habitat located about 20 miles off the Savannah shore.
    The floor will highlight the underwater environment and its inhabitants — sharks, sting rays, whales and more — said Holloway.
    The color of walls inside the school will accentuate the various landscapes displayed on the floor — grayed blue for underwater areas, green in forested locales and desert beige where dinosaur fossils are found.
    Throughout the new facility, students will be provided an opportunity to learn, hands-on, about the subject matter located under their feet.
    “We will have storyboards and interactive displays along the walls,” said Holloway. “Kids can move things and put things together to help grasp the ideas we are trying to teach. We are looking forward to that.”
    The interactive teaching tools will be the first of their kind among local schools, he said.
    Maybe the most noticeable feature within the new building will be a planned two-story mural on a pair of windows located in the center of the school — next to the main staircase.
    According to Holloway, the mural could show the Savannah skyline in the top window, and shift focus downward, into an ocean environment featuring fish and other marine life, in the bottom half.
    Construction of the new school — being built at the site of the original Mattie Lively Elementary — is ongoing.
    The original school was torn down after the 2009-10 school year. Mattie Lively students were moved to the old Julia P. Bryant Elementary when the new Julia P. school opened in August 2010. The original construction timeline had the new Mattie Lively opening in January 2012, with teachers and staff moving in during the Christmas holiday this year. Bulloch officials are hopeful a January opening is still possible, but said they will be more certain in November and make a final decision about a move date after that.
    In any case, said Holloway, students will get their first look at the new Georgia-themed school some time in 2012.
   
    Jeff Harrison can be reached at (912) 489-9454.