The Texas Education Agency accredited Oakridge in 1982, the same year NAIS granted "new school status." While the school gained academic traction, it sought a permanent home. Upper School classes were held at a house on Meadowbrook Drive in 1981-1982. For three years, from 1982 to 1985, Oakridge operated at the old Handley Middle School, which was razed in the early 1990s. Due to problems with the lease agreement with the Fort Worth Independent School District, and ongoing doubts as to the location of a permanent home, the Board of Regents purchased the 35 acres on the south side of Pioneer Parkway and started construction on the Early Childhood Center building in 1983. This, the first building on the Pioneer Parkway campus, was ready for students in the fall of 1984. The year 1985 was a major turning point in the history of The Oakridge School. Its first class of seniors (7 members of the first alumni class) graduated in 1985. One of these pioneer members of the Oakridge Alumni Association came from the United Kingdom (Wales), beginning a tradition of enrolling international students that continues. To date, Oakridge students have enrolled from 24 different countries. In the Fall of 1985, Oakridge opened the Upper School Building at 5900 Pioneer Parkway. With the 1986-87 school year, the school completed the move to the new campus with a new Lower School, Middle School, and Student Activity Center. In December 1987, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) accredited Oakridge. That same month, the NAIS granted the school full and active membership. Several months later (March 1988), Independent Schools Association of the Southwest accreditation followed suit. Among all ISAS members schools, Oakridge led with the greatest enrollment increase for the 1988-89 school year. In September 1989, Oakridge started the Pre-school program for three-year-olds, making Oakridge the only ISAS school in the area with such a program. "It is never too soon to start laying a strong foundation," remarked one parent. Headmaster Andy J. Broadus was named a Klingenstein Visiting Fellow at Columbia University's Teachers College in January 1992. By then, the school's debt had been reduced while plans were underway for expanding the Early Childhood Center (1993) and the construction of a new library and the Amon G. Carter Multipurpose Activity Center (1994). In September 1992 the National Merit Scholarship Corporation named Oakridge's first National Merit Scholar. Oakridge successfully completed its first ten-year accreditation visit in 1997 with outstanding reviews by visiting teams from ISAS and SACS.