Joe English and Daniel Tartakovsky: Building Cartwheel to Support Student Mental Health
When a student is having a hard time, the first person to notice may be a teacher, school counselor, or family member. Finding the right support, however, can take time. Families may face long waitlists, complicated referrals, or limited access to clinicians who work with children and teens.
Joe English and Daniel Tartakovsky founded Cartwheel to help schools and families navigate that gap. The company partners with K–12 school districts to connect students with licensed mental health professionals through telehealth. Schools help students access the service. Clinicians provide the care, while teachers and school staff support the process.
Two founders shaped by different experiences
English has described growing up in a small rural town where people rarely talked about mental health. He struggled with anxiety and identity as a young person and said having a counselor or coach could have helped him understand himself and imagine a future he wanted. Before Cartwheel, he worked with K–12 schools and founded a nonprofit that provided rural districts with training and resources to build more inclusive communities.
Tartakovsky has spoken about growing up in a family where emotions and difficult topics were not often discussed. That experience influenced his interest in helping young people feel supported and heard. Before Cartwheel, he worked at McKinsey, joined the federal COVID response, and served as a mental health policy advisor to the U.S. Surgeon General.
Their experiences were personal, but the problem they set out to address was broader. Schools are often close to students’ everyday lives and may be among the first places where adults notice a student needs help. Yet school teams cannot provide every kind of clinical care themselves. Cartwheel’s approach is to work alongside school counselors and social workers, connecting students to clinicians when a district’s own resources are not enough.
How a school referral can lead to care
Cartwheel’s process begins with a school partnership. A parent or guardian can ask the school’s counseling team about services, or a school counselor or social worker can refer a student with parental consent. A care coordinator then contacts the family to explain the process, gather information, and help schedule an appointment. Depending on state law, students who are legally able to consent to care may also request support.
Care is delivered by licensed clinicians through telehealth. Cartwheel offers therapy for individuals and families, guidance for parents, and psychiatric assessments. It also helps patients manage their prescribed medication. What is available can depend on the student’s needs, location, and the school district’s program. The company says its goal is to help families access care quickly, with no waitlist for referred students in its partner districts.
Telehealth can reduce the need for families to travel to an outside provider, which may matter in rural areas or communities with limited access to child and adolescent mental health services. It can also make it easier to schedule care around school and family routines. According to Cartwheel, some programs offer sessions before, during, or after school, as well as on weekends. Available times vary by program.
Schools remain part of the support network, but clinical privacy matters. Cartwheel says it follows laws that protect health and education records, including HIPAA and FERPA. Families can decide whether the company shares information about a student’s progress with the school. When appropriate and with the necessary permission, clinicians can share relevant information with parents and school counselors to help them support the student.
A partner for the whole school community
Cartwheel’s model is intended to work with a school’s existing support system. The company says counselors and social workers help determine whether a student may benefit from a referral. Its clinicians provide treatment, while school-success and care-coordination teams help districts and families navigate the service. School staff can focus on their usual duties, while students who need more support can receive care from mental health professionals.
The founders have also emphasized making services financially accessible. Cartwheel’s approach combines school district funding with health insurance reimbursement, according to co-founder Tartakovsky and the company’s investors. Cartwheel says it accepts major insurance plans, including Medicaid, and provides care at no cost to uninsured families through some programs. The details can vary by district and program, so families should confirm coverage and costs with their school or Cartwheel.
This funding structure matters because a service can be clinically valuable but still difficult to use if families cannot afford it or districts cannot sustain it. Cartwheel aims to help schools, insurers, and mental health professionals work together to provide ongoing support for students, rather than simply giving families a list of providers to contact. The company’s Series A announcement said it raised $20 million in 2023 to expand access and support more districts.
Growth brings new opportunities—and responsibility
Cartwheel’s reach has grown since it began working with school systems. In September 2026, a company announcement reported that Cartwheel partnered with 400 school districts across 16 states. It has also announced collaborations with state agencies, health plans, and local organizations to expand access in specific communities. Those figures reflect company-reported partnerships; the services available to a student still depend on whether their district participates and what the local program offers.
The company has also reported outcomes from its services. In a 2026 announcement, Cartwheel shared data showing improvements in anxiety and depression measures, as well as reductions in absences and suspensions among students receiving care. These are company-reported results, and outcomes can vary across students and programs. They offer one indication of the kinds of measures the company is tracking as it works with districts.
Growth also brings a responsibility to protect privacy, maintain clinical quality, and make sure that school partnerships support—not replace—appropriate care. Telehealth is not the right fit for every student or every situation. Cartwheel describes itself as an outpatient provider and has partnered with higher-level programs for students who need more intensive support. For families, a school referral can be a starting point for a conversation about what care is appropriate.
Conclusion
Joe English and Daniel Tartakovsky built Cartwheel around a practical insight: schools are often close to students who may need help, but they cannot meet every clinical need on their own. By partnering with districts and connecting families with licensed clinicians through telehealth, Cartwheel aims to make support easier to find and coordinate.
The approach depends on trust among students, families, schools, and providers. It also depends on sustainable funding, careful attention to privacy, and access to the right level of care. Cartwheel’s growth shows increasing interest in school-centered mental health services across the United States. Its lasting impact will depend on how well it can help each participating community turn that access into consistent, appropriate support for students.
