ATTLEBORO - Two students, one of them a reputed gang member, were suspended Tuesday after a fight between the two youths was broken up by teachers.

Three teachers who stepped between the combatants were roughed up, but did not require hospital treatment, Principal Don Frederick said.

Anonymous calls to The Sun Chronicle described the incident outside cafeteria B-2 as a gang confrontation in which teachers had been assaulted. However, Frederick rejected the description of the fight as a gang-related incident.

"That's an inaccurate description of what happened," the principal said.

The two students, who had quarreled earlier, became embroiled in a confrontation and teachers stepped in to end it, Frederick said, and in the process were "bumped around." Nonetheless, reports of the incident highlighted concerns among some students and teachers concerning what at least one teacher called a "brewing" gang subculture among teens.

Superintendent Pia Durkin said she has not had the opportunity to confer with police, but said she is taking the incident seriously.

"This is not something we would seek to minimize, and I'm sure we will be working very closely with police," she said.

Both students involved in Tuesday's violence will be summonsed to Attleboro District Court on charges of assaulting a public employee, school police Officer Robert Hale said.

One of the teens in the incident has a history of previous gang involvement, Hale said.

A veteran teacher who asked not to be identified said gang activity has been brewing over the past several years. It has been fueled in part, he said, by glorification of gang culture in popular music and the media.

"People expect the signs to be obvious, but sometimes they're not so obvious," he said. "It's worse than most people think."

Several students outside the high school Tuesday readily acknowledged the presence of gangs in their school, although most were unwilling to give their names.

"Sure, I know about it," said one teenage girl. "But I'm not going to get into it."

Another girl said she knew of students involved in gangs, but doesn't consider it serious. "They're just wanna-be gangsters," she said.

Other students weren't so sure.

"I stay as far away from it as I can," said one boy, who added that gang intimidation is a problem.

"Somebody gets beat up and it takes a couple of days, but then there's lots of rumors about what happened," he said.

The teen's name is being witheld by The Sun Chronicle because of possibile retribution.

Students said gang membership at the school is made up of a variety of races and ethnicities, and includes both girls and boys.

One girl said she attends classes with gang members who aren't shy about discussing their gang identities at school.

"They can be quiet about it, but other times they're pretty vocal," said the girl, whose name is also being witheld.

The teen said she doesn't think most people outside her school are aware of what's going on.

"Every person should know about it and be aware," she said, adding that she thinks gang involvement at the school gives Attleboro High a "bad reputation."

Worries about possible gang infiltration into local schools were kindled in 2006 by a rumored confrontation between Attleboro High and Pawtucket teenagers following a reported fight at Emerald Square mall.

The confrontation never occurred, but was taken seriously enough by some students and parents that it temporarily cut into attendance.

Last fall, police dispersed a group of youths outside Thacher Elementary School in what was feared to be an outgrowth of youth gangs.

Recently, four Pawtucket residents were arrested by city police after a 23-year-old man was stabbed in the shoulder on Carlon Street.

The incident was described as a confrontation over gang affiliations in which the local man had been trying to act as a peacemaker.