12 DECEMBER 2025
ROUGHDRAFT.NEWS
DUNWOODY Subscribe to Cathy Cobbs on Dunwoody at RoughDraftAtlanta.com/newsletters.
DHS Finance Academy founder to retire in December
By Cathy Cobbs
Steve Fortenberry, who left the business
world in 1999 to begin a finance academy
at Dunwoody High School that has
changed thousands of lives, is retiring in
December.
“I’m turning 60 and it just seemed
like it was time,” Fortenberry told Rough
Draft. “It seems like I’ve lived my whole
life at Dunwoody — I graduated from here,
I taught here, and my kids went here.”
Dunwoody’s Finance Academy
began in 1999 with just 15 students,
with the goal of evolving into a mini-
MBA program that taught real-life
lessons in entrepreneurship, marketing,
international business, finance, and AP
macroeconomics.
Fortenberry estimates that 2,000
students have gone through the two-year
program.
The highlight of the program is the
academy’s annual trip to New York City,
where students meet with executives from
Goldman Sachs, the National Football
League, Amazon, and Google. The group
also visits the New York Stock Exchange,
goes to Broadway plays, and museums —
while navigating the city’s subway system.
The trip’s highlight for him,
Fortenberry said, is a group dinner in
Little Italy, which “is very much a bonding
City of 1
Dunwoody
Georgia
Finance Academy teacher Steve Fortenberry, DHS Principal Tom Bass,
and longtime teacher Roger Gay, taken Nov. 18 during Fortenberry’s
final trip to New York. (Photo by Jennifer Boettcher)
dunwoodyga.gov | 4800 Ashford Dunwoody Rd., Dunwoody GA 30338 | 678.382.6700 0000
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experience.
Jennifer Boettcher, who was on the
academy’s trip with her son, told Rough
Draft on Nov. 18 that she is witnessing
Fortenberry “in his element.”
“Watching him guide more than 130
students and dozens of parents through
the city — on subways, in boardrooms,
and everywhere in between — is nothing
short of remarkable. He makes it all look
effortless,” Boettcher said.
She said Fortenberry “challenges
his students in the best possible ways,
preparing them for the real world by
encouraging confident public speaking,
sound financial habits, and a willingness to
push beyond their comfort zones.”
DHS Principal Tom Bass said
Fortenberry found his calling — to be “a
beacon of positivity and love for each
student and adult with whom he comes in
contact. He has been a determining factor
in what makes Dunwoody so special and
how students grasp the essence of Wildcat
Pride.”
Former students and parents chimed in
with high praises for Fortenberry and the
impact he has had on their lives.
Emily Craddock Thomas, an academy
student who graduated in 2007, said his
passion for teaching was evident at all
times.
“He cared about us as people, not just
as students, and it showed in everything
he did,” Thomas said. “Our Academy
of Finance trip to NYC is one of my
favorite memories because he made it an
experience that opened our eyes to future
possibilities.”
Audra Anders, whose two sons
went through the academy, said she
recently found a handwritten note from
Fortenberry to her son when he was in his
first year of college.
“Boys don’t save things — mine saved
this letter because it obviously meant so
much,” she said. “The love and energy he
poured into all his students is so clear.”
Anders has also participated in the
DHS Finance Academy as a coach and
judge.
“Being a part of the energy in Steve’s
classroom has been a joy and a gift,”
she said. “Learning of his retirement
brought a pang of sadness for the students
who won’t experience his teaching at
Dunwoody High School.”
Fortenberry’s interest in the students
he taught goes far past their high school
years, said parent Cindy Gebhardt, whose
son, Steve, and daughter, Katherine, were
finance academy program students.
When her son, known by many as
Stevie D., was hospitalized in 2022 after
ingesting a fatal dose of Xanax laced with
Fentanyl, Fortenberry was the first person
to show up at the facility to sit vigil.
“To this day, he calls/texts Kat to see
how she is doing, and takes her to lunch,”
Gebhardt said. “He cares so deeply for
his students, and I know for a fact, he
has helped change the course of so many
Dunwoody kids.”
Andrew Keith, who graduated in 2014,
said Fortenberry has touched the lives of
generations of students, “giving them a
lasting foundation in personal financial
literacy and the confidence to succeed in
college and beyond.”
“If you’ve ever sat in one of Steve’s
finance classes, you’d know there’s one
thing he won’t let you forget,” Keith said.
“While it’s easy to make a buck, it’s a lot
tougher to make a difference.”
Former student Ryan Gaines, class of
2013, said Fortenberry’s “investment in the
people at DHS with his contagious spirit
has inspired generations of students to lead
impactful lives in their communities.”
Johnathan Langley, another 2014
