Search Online Using the Right Words
Typing only your school’s name into a search engine usually produces too many useless results. Instead, place the school name between quotation marks and add the town, year, or decade. Try combinations such as “class photo,” “school photograph,” “yearbook,” “former pupils” and “alumni.”
Search for your teacher’s name as well. People who upload old photographs often remember the teacher but cannot name every child. Check image results and try nearby years, because old photos are frequently uploaded with the wrong date. A picture marked 1978 may actually have been taken in 1977 or 1979.
Look at alumni websites, digitized yearbooks, and local-history pages too. Some websites require payment, but do not subscribe before confirming that they hold something useful. Search results may show a blurred preview or a description that helps you decide. If the photograph is not online, do not assume it has disappeared. The person holding the best copy may simply never have uploaded it.