How to Find an Old School Teacher

Check the school’s directory.

It’s possible your teacher still works at the school you attended. Most schools have a directory, which lists their employees and contact info. Go to your old school’s website and look for a tab that says “staff,” “directory,” or “contact us” to see if your old teacher is still there. If they are, you can go visit your old school to see them or send them an email. Some school districts and schools do not list teacher information on their website. If you can’t find anything like this, it may not exist.

Contact your old school directly.

If your teacher has moved on, the school may give you their contact info. Visit the main office when school is in session. Explain that you’re an old student and tell them why you’re trying to reach your old teacher. If the school keeps records with contact info, they may pass along a phone number or email address. If someone at the school remembers you, ask them for help. Even if the main office won’t lend you a hand, an old teacher who knows you just might.

Google your teacher's name.

You may be able to find their contact info this way. Put your teacher’s name in quotes to only pull up results that match their name. Try searching for their name plus the school you went to combined with the city where the school is located. Example searches might include: “’Dan Garcia’ St. Joseph’s Cincinnati,” or “Ms. Swavorsky Munster High School Springfield Wyoming.” Even if they aren’t at the same school, their bio on their new school’s website might mention that they worked at your old school, or that they’ve been teaching in your city for a certain number of years.

Search social media.

LinkedIn and Facebook are going to be your best options here. On LinkedIn, search your teacher’s name and look for connections who worked at your old school. You can also pull up your school and scroll through the current and past employees. On Facebook, search their name in the search bar. Look for profile photos that look familiar or profiles that live in the town where you went to school. You can try searching Instagram, Twitter, and other social media sites if you’d like. But LinkedIn and Facebook are the only platforms where people use their own names by default. On Facebook, look for profiles with mutual friends. A lot of students friend their old teachers once they graduate.

Contact your old schoolmates.

Even if you haven’t spoken to your teacher, an old classmate may have. Shoot your old classmates texts or message them on social media to ask if they’ve spoken to the teacher you’re looking for. Wanting to reach out to an old teacher is super common, and one of your old schoolmates may have already done the work for you. You might send your classmate a message like, “Hey! Long time no talk. I hope you’re doing well. Random question: do you know where Ms. Palmer is these days? I’ve been trying to get in touch with her.”

Ask other teachers for a lead.

If you’re in contact with any old staff, they may be able to help you. Are you friends with one other old teacher on Facebook? Reach out to them and let them know you’re looking for an old teacher. Even if they don’t have a number or email address for you, they’ll definitely help you search for the teacher (plus, they’ll know who to ask). It helps if you really drive home that you want to thank the teacher you’re looking for. Teachers and school staff really love hearing from students who want to express gratitude, so they’re sure to lend a hand.

Reach out to the alumni association.

If anyone would have the inside scoop, it’s the alumni. If you still can’t find your old teacher, look online or call the school to see if there’s an alumni association. If there is, contact them and ask the head of the association if anyone knows how to reach your old teacher. If anyone would have a lead for you, it’ll be the people in this association. This is an especially good idea if you went to school in a smaller town and/or if you attended a school with a tight-knit community. Your old teacher may even be a member of the alumni association—especially if they went to that school growing up. If there’s a local teacher’s association, you could try contacting them.

See if your school district’s books are public.

If your old teacher was certified, their records may be open to the public. Some school districts and states maintain open records for certified teachers. Check your state’s education department’s website and your school district’s website for a teacher lookup tool. It’s not a sure thing, but they may have an email address for your old teacher. Unfortunately, if your state/district doesn’t publish certification info or your old teacher was never certified, this may be a dead end. If you went to a public school, check to see if the district union’s membership records are public. It’s extremely unlikely that they are, but it’s worth a shot.

Try a public records search engine.

There are a few online tools you can use to search for individual people. A lot of these “background check” and “people finder” sites are shady. However, a few of them should be helpful here—especially if you’ve already gathered some other information. Here are some reputable options: True People Search is probably the cleanest free tool out there. If you have your teacher’s name and city, the site will scour public records and published data to give you contact information. Social Catfish will pull up any public contact information for your old teacher if you have their name and city locked down. Family TreeNow focuses on genealogy, but you can actually pull addresses for people based on their name and city. You’d only be able to write your old teacher a letter, but this should work!