Cartwheel
School-connected mental healthcare
Cartwheel provides licensed virtual therapy and psychiatry through school partnerships, connecting students and families with ongoing mental healthcare.
Best for
- School districts adding licensed outpatient mental healthcare
- Students who need therapy or psychiatric support beyond school counseling
Not ideal for
- Districts seeking an on-site clinician for every school day
- Students requiring an emergency response or inpatient treatment
Bottom line
Cartwheel is worth evaluating when a district needs an organized route from school referral to licensed outpatient treatment. Its combination of therapy, psychiatry, and school coordination is useful, with local access and family participation determining how well the model works.
Score breakdown
Weights: Outcomes 35% · Product 30% · Implementation 20% · Pricing clarity 15%.
School districts use Cartwheel to connect students and families with clinicians outside the school counseling office. Daybreak Health addresses the same school-contracted virtual mental-healthcare decision. Cartwheel’s offer includes psychiatric evaluations and medication management as well as individual and family therapy, so an equivalent proposal should specify the same clinical scope.
The service combines a district partnership with family insurance billing and support for uninsured families. This makes it a different purchase from a simple per-student wellness app. District contract costs and family benefits need separate comparison, particularly where a proposed contract changes the services available to uninsured students.
- Access and clinical evidence (7.8): Published service outcomes support access and symptom improvement, with limited detail for causal comparisons.
- Therapy and psychiatry range (8.0): Individual therapy, family support, and psychiatry cover more than counseling alone.
- District launch and referrals (7.4): Referral tools and care coordinators support launch, while school and family participation remain essential.
- Pricing clarity (6.7): Insurance and uninsured support are described, but district contract prices are not published.
From School Referral to Treatment
Cartwheel gives school staff a referral portal and progress visibility, while care coordinators help families with scheduling, insurance, and other providers. Clinical program managers consult with school teams. Treatment operates year-round, including evenings, weekends, and school breaks.
Licensed clinicians provide individual therapy, family therapy, parent guidance, psychiatric evaluations, and medication management. The combination can reduce the work families face in finding separate services, but it still requires consent, intake, a clinically appropriate match, and a practical plan for attending appointments. Sharing information between healthcare and school teams also requires appropriate privacy arrangements.
What the Outcomes Establish
In February 2026, Cartwheel reported serving 350 districts across 15 states and published figures including 58% full remission from anxiety and a fall in student absences from 16 to six. These are company-published service results. The release does not supply enough study detail to treat them as a randomized comparison with Daybreak or with in-person care.
The reported expansion shows that districts are adopting the service, while the clinical and education measures indicate what a district can track after launch. Useful local measures include the share of referrals reaching care, time to the first appointment, attendance at sessions, symptom changes, and family experience. National partnership growth is not a revenue measure.
Product and service details: cartwheel.org, prnewswire.com.
Company scale
HIR estimates annual revenue below $100 million from the disclosed 350-district footprint and financing-stage service model as of February 2026. Scale source
What People Say
What people like
"Our counselors have somewhere to refer students who need more treatment."
"Families can arrange appointments outside the school day."
What people don't like
"Students still need a private place and time to attend virtual care."
Where customer reviews couldn't be found, our analysts attempted to give a voice to buyer sentiment, drawing on real information from review sites, forums and product documentation.
Based on: Product or service details, Product or service details.
Competitor landscape
| Vendor | Overall | Ease of implementation |
|---|---|---|
| Cartwheel | 7.6 | 7.4 |
| Daybreak Health | 7.3 | 7.6 |
Pricing
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| District partnership | Contract pricing depends on district scope; no standard district fee is published in the opened material. |
| Clinical care | Cartwheel says it accepts major insurance, including Medicaid, with no additional cost for most families. |
| Uninsured families | The February 2026 announcement says uninsured families can receive care at no cost. |
| Proposal comparison | Separate district fees, family responsibility, covered service types, and eligibility for uninsured support. |
Leadership
Recent news
- February 2026: Cartwheel reported 350 district partnerships and announced a Series B investment led by A-Street. Source
Methodology
We reviewed product documentation, published service evidence, pricing, and customer accounts available on November 8, 2026. Scores are editorial assessments on a ten-point scale. The overall score weights outcomes and workflow value at 35%, product at 30%, implementation at 20%, and pricing clarity at 15%. Company-published results describe the reported service or study; they are not a forecast for every customer.
Revenue estimates are identified as estimates. Existing peer scores are carried from the linked HIR reviews.
Sources
- Healthcare Industry Reviews analysis of the product, service, and pricing sources below, conducted November 2026.
- cartwheel.org · for schools
- prnewswire.com · news releases/cartwheel becomes nations largest school telehealth provider following exceptional growth and major new investment 302677295.html
- cartwheel.org · about us