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What the notes failed to mention is the academy’s new name, which hangs on a banner at the start of its hallway: The Rebecca F. Baber Academy of Finance. The name was unveiled at a faculty meeting April 16 before Baber’s husband and two grown children, much to Baber’s surprise.

But for Jeanette Dixon, Paint Branch’s principal who made the decision, the honor was a long time coming. ‘‘She is the Academy of Finance,” Dixon said.

Baber, a Silver Spring resident, has been teaching at Paint Branch since 1982, the last 17 years as head of business education. Despite curriculum changes, with computers replacing typewriters, Baber has continued to impress upon her students the importance of understanding and managing their finances.

She started a young investors’ club and brought in a financial planner to meet with the group. Lunch with students often meant discussions about stocks, with Baber drawing on her experiences as president of her own investment club and encouraging daily viewing and reading of financial news. Baber and her husband also own five rental properties along the East Coast, including three in North Carolina.

‘‘If we can give students a basis for being financially fit, it’s going to help them in every aspect of their life,” she said, traces of her native Alabama drawl evident as she talked.

Baber drew up plans to start the Academy of Finance six years ago. It is one of six high schools in the county to offer the college preparatory program, part of the National Academy of Finance. Classes include accounting, economics and world finance, banking, international finance, software by design and financial planning.

In addition to a required, paid, financial internship, students learn how to balance a checkbook, apply for loans (the phrase ‘‘car loans” always gets teenagers’ attention, she said) and manage their personal finances.

‘‘Whether they major in business or not, it’s going to help them in every aspect of their life,” she said.

Baber speaks from experience. When she was 19, her father died suddenly of a heart attack, and her mother said Baber would have to get a job to help pay for the rest of her college education.

That Christmas, after her mother said she could not give her any more money for school, Baber got her first student loan and borrowed until she graduated. After college, she went to work in the business world in Atlanta, but found she missed working with people, so she returned to school and got her teaching degree.

Students described Baber as energetic, friendly and easy to talk to. ‘‘You can tell she really likes finance,” said Maria Aghguiguian, a 17-year-old senior and co-president of the Academy of Finance. ‘‘She knows what she’s talking about.”

Students also praised Baber’s teaching style, which ties in current events and real-world examples with the curriculum. Baber often starts class by asking what the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at the previous day. Every two weeks, students bring a business news item to class for discussion. Investor’s Business Daily is delivered each day to her classroom, and copies of Forbes, Business Week and Better Investing dot the magazine rack. To encourage investing, she will choose a name out of a hat in her financial management class and give that student $25 of her own money to buy a share of stock in a company through an online broker.

‘‘She’s the ultimate mother,” said Rita Burks, a teacher in the Academy of Finance. ‘‘She’s always available to students and helps them be successful.”

During a software design class last week, Baber strolled around the room, looking over the shoulders of students making PowerPoint presentations on mutual funds. As she helped and offered advice about the project, she also offered investing tips.

‘‘Whatever your age is, that’s what you should have in bonds. The rest should be in stocks,” she said to one student.

Baber then got the rest of the class’ attention, repeating her advice. ‘‘I’m as old as dirt,” she said to chuckles, ‘‘but if I was 50, I would invest 50 percent in bonds and the rest in stocks.”

But Baber has no plans to slow down. At Paint Branch, Baber also oversees the art, family and consumer science, music and technology education departments, more than 20 teachers in all. Within the Academy of Science, she continues to expand the program, searching for more companies that will offer internships.

‘‘I’m vibrant, I have a lot of energy, I’m highly motivated, I love kids and I’m passionate about the program,” she said. ‘‘I feel I have a lot to give.”