The Downcounty Consortium (DCC) is a group of five high schools that rising middle-schoolers in a select part of Montgomery County, Maryland choose from to attend for high school education. These high schools are Albert Einstein High School, John F. Kennedy High School, Montgomery Blair High School, Wheaton High School, and Northwood High School. Introduced in 2004, each DCC high school offers different academy programs catered to the interests of a student. These academies are open to all students in the DCC area. After picking one academy and taking four of that particular academy's classes, students are eligible for a special certificate. Students also participate in internships as they are referred through the program. The schools that feed into the Downcounty Consortium are Argyle Middle School, Eastern Middle School, Col. E. Brook Lee Middle School, A. Mario Loiederman Middle School, Newport Mill Middle School, Parkland Middle School, Sligo Middle School, Silver Spring International Middle School, and Takoma Park Middle School.