Michael R. McCormick, superintendent of the Val Verde Unified School District, was honored with a Moreno Valley College Legacy Award at the Dolores Huerta and César E. Chávez Scholarship Breakfast.

 

The Moreno Valley College Legacy Award recognizes outstanding leadership, service, stewardship and commitment to social justice in the Inland Empire. Recipients have a proven record of impact in the Inland Empire, having worked tirelessly to transform our communities by advancing the region's educational and socio-economic needs through civic or educational leadership.  

 

McCormick is known for his passion for innovation and helping students acquire their higher education aspirations. Before becoming superintendent, McCormick served for six years as assistant superintendent for Education Services for Val Verde USD. Under his leadership, VVUSD has been recognized by the American Association of School Administrators as a Learning 2025 Lighthouse District and the California Department of Education as a Pivotal Practice District in 2022. VVUSD has been recognized by the Leadership Policy Institute (2019) as a California school district that is “beating the odds” for African American and Hispanic student achievement; and Education Trust West named Val Verde USD as tops among California districts on closing the achievement gap.  

 

He participated as a member of the Riverside County contingent of educators summoned by the White House to a meeting at the US Department of Education to create the Riverside County Education Collaborative and connected with the College Day of Opportunity.  In 2023, McCormick was invited to be part of a White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans. 

 

Through his involvement with the Riverside County Education Collaborative, McCormick has been instrumental in helping trail blaze effective FAFSA/California Dream Act Application completion strategies. This work led to hosting the statewide kickoff event for Race to Submit in Val Verde USD for the California Student Aid Commission and ultimately becoming a statewide requirement for FAFSA completion. Over the years, VVUSD has been recognized as having the highest FAFSA/CADAA completion rates in the state of California. 

 

McCormick frequently gives presentations on effective strategies and offers inspiration to create Future Ready organizations focused on STEAM and the 4Cs: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication. The Val Verde USD is known for its emphasis on technology integration. McCormick has presented at Google symposiums focusing on the successful implementation of instructional technology in a K-12 school district. In 2023, McCormick was named a Google GSV Fellow. 

  

McCormick was named Administrator of the Year by the Riverside County Office of Education in 2012, and by the Association of California School Administrators in 2015. He was also selected Superintendent of the Year in 2018 for Riverside County by the Association of California School Administrators and Instructional Leader of the Year in 2019 by the California Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 

 

He regularly provides testimony on assessment and accountability items to the State Board of Education. In May of 2019, McCormick provided testimony on the use of high school assessments to predict post-secondary student success. Additionally, McCormick served on the State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Superintendent's Advisory Committee. 

 

McCormick is active on numerous boards, including Google K12 advisory board member; Operation New Hope chairman of the Board; EDleader21 advisory board member; University of California, Riverside, School of Education advisory board member; University of Redlands School of Education advisory board member; and Science Technology Education Partnership. He is a former State Board member and Region XIX president for the Association of California School Administrators.