Want to thank your old school teacher for all their hard work – making you who you are today? Or are you reaching out for an academic reference? We’ll show you 9 different ways you can track down your favorite school teacher. We also believe that the core functions of Spokeo can be one of the easiest ways to look up a teacher, so read on to find out how.
How To Look Up Old School Teachers
So you want to find an old school teacher, but you don’t know where to begin! While this might have been challenging without the internet, thankfully it’s become a lot easier now the right tools are available – including some free options or trial versions.
We’ll explore how to look up old school teachers in this article. Some ways are going to be more straightforward than others, and we consider our people search tool to be the most effective way to find an old school teacher online if you already have this info. But if you don’t, there are plenty of other ways you can track them down after all these years – stay reading for our 9 best suggestions.
1. Searching Social Media
One of the easier first steps you can take to finding your old school teacher online is by searching for their name on social media. Consider searching on the professional social media site LinkedIn for their profile, as it’s the best place to connect with contacts from your past.
What’s more, reaching out on LinkedIn is a safe bet if you’re looking for a reference. Old teachers might not want to add you on Facebook, as they could be just using it for friends and family.
Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn both give you the option to search for someone based on their first and second name, which makes your hunt a bit easier if you don’t have their Twitter or Instagram handle.
2. Contacting Your Old School
You can also try reaching out to your old school, as they still might have your old teacher’s details. If you’re able to explain to them that you’re a student and have a good reason for getting in touch with them, they might be able to pass your details along to them. Or, they might even provide their details for you.
This might become easier if someone in your former school remembers you. They might be able to provide useful leads, even if the teacher has moved to another state or country.
This might not be the best option as, for starters, your old school might not be willing or able to give out your teacher’s personal details – they might only be able to provide an email address at best. Also, these details may have changed if your old teacher has moved, or changed their phone number.
3. Alumni Associations
Another way you can reach out to an old teacher to connect professionally is via your school’s alumni association. Most schools have an alumni association, and this can be a great means to stay in contact with other pupils, especially those who have gone on to start businesses and the like. If your old elementary school doesn’t have one, then you can probably skip this section.
Alumni associations are tight-knit groups that are excellent for swapping contacts. This could be on social media, particularly LinkedIn or Facebook, as alumni associations are generally great places to reconnect with old school friends, and reach out to potential business contacts. If you’re lucky, someone might be in touch with your old school teacher, giving you a great opportunity to reconnect.
4. Public Records Search Engine
If you’ve got all the information you need to find your old teacher, then a public records search engine might be helpful. In fact, Spokeo offers a people search tool that enables you to do just that. Spokeo’s people search can find your contact’s address, phone number, email, and work info with ease. You’ll also be able to gather someone’s employment and education history, meaning that you might find it a bit easier to track down your teacher via the new school they teach at.
If you don’t have certain key info about your elementary school teacher like their phone number, but have their name, then this is where Spokeo’s people search functions come in useful.
Simply by inputting this into Spokeo’s search tool in the search box on our home page, you’ll be able to find relevant matches quickly and easily. Try Spokeo today!
5. Teachers’ Associations
On your former school website, you might be able to find a link to their teachers’ associations – most elementary schools will have them. This could be a good route to go down if your teacher is still actively working at your former school — less so if they’ve left.
However, you still might be able to find their old contact details on the website if they’ve left them there. Another option if you’ve had no luck there is to check out other teacher associations in the area, as they might have simply moved to a different local school.
6. Use Your Old School’s Directory
If your old school has a directory, then you can use it to search for a teacher by name. Again, this only tends to be useful if they still work at the school. If your school’s website has tabs like “directory” or “staff”, this might be a good place to start looking.
7. Teacher Union Forums
Teacher union forums tend to have huge databases with teacher names and contact details. The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are two options that can help your search.
8. Googling The Name Of Your Teacher
Another possible option would be to simply enter your teacher’s full name into the Google search function. While this might be difficult if your teacher has a common name, this might be easier if they have a more distinctive one. What’s more, if you use Google to your advantage, and input your teacher’s name and the name of your old school or the town you went to school in, you might be able to narrow down your search further. By doing this, you just might find a website that leads you to your old teacher’s contact details.
According to Google Guide, you can also find the phone number of someone who lives in the States by using their Residential Phonebook tool, if you have their name and the city they live in. You can also find someone’s address and name if you have their phone number, too, which can make it easier to find your old teacher.
9. Reaching Out To Old School Teachers
Still wondering, “How can I find my elementary school teacher?” If you’re starting to run out of ideas, try reaching out to other old school teachers at your elementary school, or any that you’re still in contact with. They might still be in touch with them, or know someone who might be able to point you in the right direction.