Largely inspired by the work of Noddings (1992, 1995, 1996, 2002), researchers have begun to explore the importance of caring in educational settings. Research indicates that the degree to which students feel cared for by their peers and their teacher impacts their attitudes toward school (Battistich et al., 1995; Battistich et al., 1997). Understanding the role of caring seems especially important in urban schools (Cohen, 2001; Comer, 2001). Qualitative research on urban physical education by Ennis and her colleagues indicates that issues such as caring, trust, and belonging are strongly connected to student engagement (Ennis, 1999; Ennis, et al., 1999). The apparent connection between caring and the attitudes of urban youth toward physical activity programs is also supported by the fieldwork and practical experience of Hellison and his colleagues (Hellison, 2003; Hellison & Walsh, 2002; Hellison & Wright, 2003; Schilling, 2001). The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship between a caring climate and attitudes toward physical education in an urban high school setting. It was hypothesized that a caring climate would have significant positive relationships with the attitudes of enjoyment and usefulness. Participants were 87 African American students (46 girls and 41 boys) from an inner-city high school with a mean age of 14.8 years. All participants were enrolled in a semester long physical education class. Participants completed the Student Attitude Toward Physical Education Survey and the Contextual Caring Scale. Both measures have strong psychometric properties and were developed for use with adolescent populations in physical activity settings. Pearson correlations were employed to examine the relationships among the various scales. Cronbach's coefficient alphas for the caring, enjoyment and usefulness scales were .81, .89 and .78 respectively. As hypothesized, the correlation analyses showed that scores on the caring scale had moderate and positive significant relationships with scores on the usefulness, r(87) = .52, p < 0.0001, and enjoyment scales r(87) = .57, p<0.0001. Consistent with the research literature (Battistich et al., 1995; Battistich et al., 1997; Cohen, 2001; Comer, 2001; Ennis et al., 1999), the results suggest participants who felt more cared for by their teacher and peers were likely to enjoy physical education more and find it more useful. We suggest teacher education programs develop ways to address the notion of caring and expose pre-service teachers to exemplary approaches such as Hellison's (2003) PSRM and the Sport for Peace curriculum (Ennis, et al., 1999).