Tuition, Scholarships & Financial Aid Byrne Scholars Program · Salesianum School The Byrne Scholars Program

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Salesianum is grateful and excited to have received a historic $12,000,000 gift from Jacklyn and Miguel “Mike” Bezos ’63 for the Salesianum School Endowment.

$10,000,000 of the gift was used to establish the Rev. James P. Byrne, OSFS Memorial Scholarship, which funds 24 full-need students each school year. In addition to a full-tuition scholarship, Fr. Byrne Scholars will receive funding for the incidental expenses that often form barriers for underserved students, such as for books, retreats, and service trips.

Recognizing Salesianum’s Wilmington roots and legacy of educating generations of immigrants, including Mike Bezos, preference will be given to qualified applicants living in Wilmington and children of immigrants to the United States.

Jacklyn and Mike are also matching commitments of $100,000 or more to the endowment over the next three years — up to $2,000,000 — with the hope of inspiring others to provide access to Salesianum by creating scholarships of their own.

We are no longer accepting Byrne Scholarship inquiries for the 2026–27 school year. The Byrne Scholarship program will begin accepting inquiries again in August 2026 for the 2027–2028 school year. After reviewing the criteria, if you would like to be considered for the Byrne Scholarship for the 2027–2028 school year, please click this link.

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The story of Rev. James P. Byrne, OSFS and the Casa de Sales

In 1959, Fidel Castro began rounding up Cuban children for Communist indoctrination and deportation to the USSR. Terrified parents sent their unaccompanied children to the US — over 14,000 in total — in 1960. This mass exodus of children became known as Operation Pedro Pan.

Local social service organizations quickly reached their limits. To help, Salesianum’s Monsignor Thomas Reese '39, Principal Father Joseph Lynn, OSFS, and Oblate Provincial Father John Conmy, OSFS, established Casa de Sales — a building with capacity for 21 students, located at 1300 North Broom Street

Father James Byrne, OSFS, a recently ordained Oblate priest, was placed in charge. Young, humble, and committed, he arranged for the young men to attend Salesianum. Fr. Bryne also provided leadership, spiritual guidance, and regimented routines for the homesick students, as well as teaching Spanish and religious studies at the school.

Most of the young men never saw their families again, staying loyal to Fr. Byrne until his death in 2020. The Casa provided the foundation for a successful group of men, including doctors, engineers, professors, and Mike Bezos himself. Today, the Byrne Scholars Program continues Fr. Byrne’s legacy of inclusion, optimism, and respect.