Opened in 1961 as part of the Buchanan County School District, Lake Contrary Elementary joined the St. Joseph School District the fall of 1965. Located on a large plot of land, Lake Contrary took in students from Hyde, Kirchner, Lake Station, Shepherd, and Weis Schools. Note that the Hyde school (not pictured below), was not the school near Hyde Park, rather it located near the Muskrat Slough area. Kirschner was located two blocks east and two blocks north of Lake Contrary Elementary. Shepherd was two miles west of the Lake Contrary Amusement Park. Weis was located between the beach area between Lake Contrary and the Missouri River. The location of Weis today is the middle of the river. Lake Contrary closed in 2018 and students were relocated to Hosea, Hyde, and Spring Garden Middle School.
In August 2021, Lake Contrary reopened as the Early Learning Center (ELC) with nineteen classrooms provide learning opportunities for as many as 556 students. The ELC offers half day programs, four days a week.
![Toni Gardner]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1686320740/sjsdk12mous/iz73gheagunn4ckwszgc/ELC-1.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1686320740/sjsdk12mous/iz73gheagunn4ckwszgc/ELC-1.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1686320740/sjsdk12mous/iz73gheagunn4ckwszgc/ELC-1.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1686320740/sjsdk12mous/iz73gheagunn4ckwszgc/ELC-1.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1686320740/sjsdk12mous/iz73gheagunn4ckwszgc/ELC-1.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1686320740/sjsdk12mous/iz73gheagunn4ckwszgc/ELC-1.jpg","width":1840}])
