Ithaca Montessori school founder Marina Portillo attacks cheating husband, Dr. David Patzer

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46-year-old Marina Portillo says she came home Thursday evening to find her husband, Dr. David Patzer, at the rear of their home with another woman, Tia Bryan. As Dr. Patzer told his wife he was leaving the house with Tia, Marina charged him and punched him in the chest and face. Responding officers documented bruising on his eye, broken glasses, a bloodied nose, and a cut on his chest.

Marina Portillo is the founder and director of Ithaca Montessori school in Nashville. Dr. David Patzer is the Medical Director of Addiction Services at Nashville’s Mental Health Cooperative.

Marina Portillo (MNPD)
Marina Portillo (MNPD)
Marina was born in Phoenix and raised in Tempe, Arizona. Her interest in education was piqued during her junior year in high school while working with her first mentor, Father Arthur, a Jesuit priest, assisting at-risk children at the poorest church in the Phoenix area. Teaching those young children that year and the following year was the highlight of her last two years at Xavier College Preparatory.  

Marina holds one degree from Arizona State University in Elementary Education (B.A.E) and one from Belmont University in Early Childhood and Montessori Education (M.A.T).  She also holds a TN state teaching license with two endorsements: Early Childhood and Elementary Education, and an American Montessori Society primary diploma (2 ½ year olds to 6 year olds) with a MATCE (Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education) endorsement.
Marina shares her life with her husband David, a local physician who specializes in child and adolescent psychiatry and addiction medicine. They are the proud parents of Zelda, a beautiful black lab, and welcoming new baby Yuki, Japanese Akita.
She is inspired by travel, hiking, and attending art shows. She feels privileged to be a Montessori teacher, a mentor to new teachers and to direct Ithaca Montessori. Opening her own school was an idea born from the suggestion of Dr. Merrie King, Marina’s mentor.  Marina is grateful and proud for her school to bear the name of Dr. King’s original Montessori school in Franklin, Tennessee.

Marina Portillo of Dakota Ave in Nashville, TN, was booked into the Metro Nashville Jail on December 1st, charged with domestic assault with bodily injury. A judicial commissioner set her bond at $100.

Dr. David Patzer serves as Medical Director of Addiction Services responsible for clinical and administrative leadership and oversite of Substance Use programming.

Prior to joining MHC in 2009, Dr. Patzer worked for the Davidson County Drug and Mental Health Court programs. He was a faculty member of the Yale Child Study Center and the University of Arizona, where he founded the Neuropsychiatric Disorders Evaluation and Research Clinic.

Dr. Patzer received his Medical Degree from Northwestern Medical School and completed Psychiatric Residency training and Fellowship at Yale University.  Dr. Patzer completed an Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship at Vanderbilt University.  He is Board Certified in Adult Psychiatry, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine.

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