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The whole point of a class reunion is to reunite, and you can't do that without your classmates. To ensure you find as many folks as practical before the class reunion, start locating classmates early, even perhaps a year before the event.


This will also help spread the word that a class reunion is being planned. You would like to make an accomplished list of everyone you are making a plan to find. Make a catalogue of classmates' names using the yearbook from your senior year. Another good reference, if you've a copy, is your graduation program, which should contain a list of everyone who graduated with you.

If you cannot find either a yearbook or a program, contact your school to determine whether the registrar or secretary can give you an inventory of your classmates. Start a spreadsheet so you can keep all the data you find on folks in one place. You may also use it later as a database for class reunion promotional mailings. Your spreadsheet might include each classmate's: last name, original name, first name, postal address, phone number and email. It's also a sensible concept to have a notes section for each classmate in which you can enter leads or tips you wish to follow up on. After you enter all your classmates' names in your spreadsheet, fill in the contact information for the people with whom you have stayed in contact.

In this age of e-mail, it's faster to remain in contact with old mates, so start by getting in contact with any classmates in your e-mail notebook to ask them for their present contact information.

Here is a captivating stats fact: 70 % or more of your school classmates still reside in your school's home state. So they could be right under your nose!

These are some ideas for finding old classmates:

Get the records of any prior reunion planners
Check for classmates registered on public alumni sites
Check with your college or alumni organization and on their sites
Post your missing classmate names on your web site and school or alumni site
Ask your faculty or alumni organization to post a link to your class net site in case classmates visit these sites.
Check online state phone books like: Switchboard.com, Anywho.com, or Whitepages.com - See who is living at their last known address by employing the 'reverse address' feature at Whitepages.com. Fill in the address and get the existing phone number for that address. Maybe they know your classmate's location or positioning of other family members.
Check other graduating class web sites for your college for possible family of a missing classmate
Try entering names of school classmates on main search engines like Google or Yahoo - The following paid search services might provide data about missing classmates: USSearch.com or People-finders.com.
Facebook and MySpace can be wonderful resources for finding classmates
Check the Social Security Death Index for deceased classmates at deathindexes.com / ssdi.html
Check online Obituaries for deceased classmates
'Pay for' search services

Don't forget your low-tech options to find classmates:

Check the phone book for the town in which your high school is located. You may find missing classmates listed there. If not, see if you can find the names of their family who could be in a position to align you to the people you're attempting to find.
Organize a phone-a-thon by making contact with all found classmates and ask if they know a way to reach other school classmates.
Often forgotten by reunion committees is the undeniable fact that classmates may very well be attempting to find you. Publicize your reunion information in local and area papers, radio stations and online public web sites.
Your high school could be in a position to offer you with a list of classmates' last known (likely their parents') addresses.
When you do find classmates, ask them for the contact information of other classmates they have stayed in touch with. If they don't have exact contact information, they could have other tips that might point you to the people you're on the lookout for (who they married, last city they were living in, as an example).
If still have lost classmates by the point you're ready to send out your first promotional email or mailing about your class reunion, include a stock of those classmates in the e-mail or mailing. Ask the classmates you have found for leads or tips on finding the missing members.

To find married female classmates, use what you already know about the gal's age, hometown, middle initials, and their prenuptial name to then find more documents to keep more info about that classmate. Find the earliest wedding certificate to help get the latest private info on their whereabouts. When looking, remember that divorced women continue using their married name if they have kids and/or own property. It helps to go looking for the husband's first name because most married people purchase property jointly, which also helps you in locating the female classmate. If you know the girl's date of birth you are going to be able to access positive identification of other documents.

Locating faculty classmates is a continual project during class reunion planning. Don't expect to finish the task before you start other sides of class reunion planning. While your largest push in locating old classmates should be made before your first promotional email or mailing, you must continue the effort until the day of your class reunion so that as many people as practical can be included.

Don't get discouraged if you can not find your high school classmates, and do not think everyone wants to be found and wants come to the reunion. For some, it might be the past is filled with annoying or distressing memories or there might be extenuating circumstances in their present life.