About

Matthew Patty will be joining us after several years of passionate and exciting work in education. Most recently, Mr. Patty has been working as an Academic Technology Coordinator where he supervised several district initiatives including the installation of STEM Exploration Labs at each Northside Elementary School, leading the district’s esport’s program, and managing district professional learning events. Matthew was promoted to this position after spending several years supporting educators as a professional coach. Working directly with the teachers and leadership at three Northside high schools allowed him to internalize the next steps for our Zachry graduates.

After earning degrees from Trinity University (B.A Mathematics, M.A. Teaching), Matthew started his career as a middle school math teacher in NEISD. He eventually found his way to Northside in the unique role of an Online Geometry teacher. Although virtual learning is now extremely common, at the time, Matthew had to work with several district departments to align work and ensure middle schools students from across the district had access to high level instruction. 

An individual that truly believes in public education and the power it can bring to the battle of inequity, Mr. Patty is poised to lead the Zachry Magnet to become a beacon of excellence and is excited about the influence it will have on the Zachry Community as a whole.

Matthew’s daughter, Charlotte, will be attending a Northside Elementary in the fall.

Jennifer Dever is joining the Zachry Magnet Team as the Magnet School Coordinator.  She comes to Zachry with a wide range of experience in education across grades Pre-K - 12 and has held a variety of positions within education.  She started her career as a high school coach and has held positions as an AVID Tutor, Instructional Assistant, Teacher, AVID Coordinator and most recently as a Student Services Facilitator.  

Ms. Dever is originally from Phoenix, Arizona where she earned her B.A.E in Secondary Education: History from Arizona State University.  She is also a proud military spouse who has had the opportunity to live and teach around the world.  She fell in love with teaching middle school overseas and has never looked back.  Ms. Dever moved to San Antonio, TX in 2017 when she joined Northside ISD as an ELAR teacher and AVID Coordinator.  

As an AVID coordinator, Ms.Dever would always encourage her students to continue to pursue their goals.  She set out to show them that achieving their dreams was possible when she enrolled at Lamar University where she went on to earn her Masters in Educational Administration.

Ms. Dever is excited to bring her experience with global communications and global citizenship to the students at Zachry Magnet School.  Her goal is to support a learning environment where students feel safe and supported as they engage in the learning process and challenge themselves every day. 

My name is Richard De La Garza, and I am privileged to be able to serve the Zachry community and its stakeholders. I have been with NISD my entire career which began in 2008 as an elementary special education teacher. I spent several years in elementary and then decided to move to middle school in 2012. Working at Briscoe Middle School helped me realize my passion was teaching at this level. After contemplating for several months, I decided to make a move to central office to further assist other Northside middle schools. In 2014, I accepted the position to become a Support Specialist and provide behavioral support across the district. I spent six years assisting campuses across the district, including Zachry Middle School. In 2020, I decided it was time to move back to a campus and became an administrative intern at Holmgreen/Jordan MS. Later that year, I was able to become the assistant principal for Zachry Middle School. A unique opportunity then presented itself at which I became the Associate Principal here at Zachry. I have been serving the Zachry community throughout my career and see the potential our students can reach. Even though we only have them for three years, I truly believe our time here is the most vital period to help develop them into productive members of our society. I will work tirelessly alongside you, to tackle any situation for the betterment of your child's educational success. 

Just a few things about myself, I graduated from UTSA with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. I continued my education and received a Master's degree in Educational Administration from Grand Canyon University. I am currently taking a break from my doctorates degree to enjoy my family time! I have been married to my amazing wife (Adriana) now for 18 years and have three amazing kids: Richard "RJ", Hailey, and Alayna. We enjoy taking road trips and just driving off to unknown destinations. Life is an adventure-enjoy it!