More than two dozen La Salle Academy students were suspended from school and barred from playing in sanctioned athletic activities — including tomorrow’s Thanksgiving Day football game against East Providence — after the academy investigated their conduct at a house party, the school’s principal said last night.

The group of students, including at least six starters on the Rams varsity football team, were disciplined for violating the school’s code of ethics, said Principal Donald Kavanagh.

Kavanagh declined to specify what the students did to prompt the discipline, which was meted out on Thursday.

“They were present and, in our opinion, if they weren’t participating they should have gotten up and left,” he said.

La Salle’s investigation of the Bristol house party highlights one high school’s efforts to regulate the conduct — and safety — of students after hours and far from campus.

La Salle’s actions come in the wake of several recent fatalities in the state that have spotlighted the problem of underage drinking.

La Salle will take action whenever its administrators acquire the information they need to mount an investigation, Kavanagh said.

“The issue is that there is a lot of underage drinking, and probably the use of pot at parties, and the school typically does not get the information,” he said.

“If you don’t act on it when you get the information, you’re really dead in the water,” he said. “How do you send the message that the behavior is inappropriate?”

Kavanagh said he could not say if the La Salle investigation found any evidence of underage drinking at the party in Bristol last week but one person was arrested at the party — which was reported in a local newspaper last week.

Bristol police reported that a 17-year-old Bristol girl had been charged with possession of alcohol by a minor at the home on Mulberry Road on the night of Nov. 11, according to the Bristol Phoenix.

La Salle officials learned last Wednesday about the involvement of La Salle students as well as teens from other schools at the party, Kavanagh said. He did not name the schools. Each of the La Salle students was suspended from school for at least one day for being at the party.

Some students were more involved than others and received a longer suspension, said Kavanagh. He declined to specify the discipline further.

Meanwhile, every La Salle student at the party was suspended from participating in any school-sanctioned activity or sport for a period of five days, he said.

Any athlete, including at least six starters on the football team, must sit out at least one game, he said.

Each of the football players who face a suspension from tomorrow’s contest with East Providence High School — a holiday tradition dating to 1927 — will rejoin the team in time for Tuesday evening’s playoff game against Bishop Hendricken, Kavanagh said.

Last night, those who were eligible for the Thanksgiving Day contest were allowed to enjoy a customary dinner with their opponents in the East Providence High School cafeteria.

“Your season can be made or broken on Thanksgiving Day,” said La Salle’s athletic director, Ted Quigley.

“For our kids, this is a big deal.”

mreynold@projo.com